Falkirk were defeated by Montrose as The Bairns edge closer to dropping out of play-off places after run of torrid form.
Falkirk opened the scoring in the early stages of the match as Connor Sammon slotted home following a Robbie Leitch pass. However, Cammy Ballantyne equalised just before half time to cancel it out.
The game would then be decided by Lewis Milne in the second period as he raced through on goal to make it 2-1 after slotting it past Robbie Mutch. Falkirk would have the ball in the net in the 90th minute with Sean Kelly’s free kick, but the referee chalked it off as Aiden Keena was judged to have impeded the wall.
Gary Holt said after the game:
“We have got to take more responsibility scoring goals and taking more responsibility defending goals, [Montrose] never caused us too many problems but we gave them two soft goals which hurts any team if you’re not taking your chances.
“Should we have had two penalties in the first half? One hundred per cent. But that doesn’t influence how you lose the game or win the game.
“There were the things that we did poorly on Thursday that we did better today – but we still lost the game, so we have to learn from that”.
The defeat today means that it is four losses in Falkirk’s last five games, conceding nine goals in those games. Where did it all go wrong for the side once the favourite for the title?
These are some causes of Falkirk’s latest poor form.
Injury Woes
Interim manager Gary Holt lamented the vast number of injuries he has had to contend with in recent games with the following all carrying injuries: Mark Durnan, Ben Hall, Sean Kelly, Anton Dowds, Charlie Telfer and Aiden Connolly.
Most, if not all, of that list would be known as first team regulars. However, the management have had to do without, as they have been met with a big injury crisis: youngsters such as Robbie Leitch, Kai Fotheringham and Kyle McLelland have had to cover for crucial positions in the side.
The injury crisis was on full display in yesterday’s game as it is arguable that the makeshift centre of defence was at fault for both goals which costed The Bairns.
Management Shuffles
Falkirk fans have also despaired over the lack of quality football at The Falkirk Stadium for long since the form started to turn ugly.
Indecisiveness over which manager was to lead Falkirk out of league one may have cost The Bairns as they persevered with the previous management duo despite it originally being an interim appointment.
It was a common complaint amongst the support that even when the results were good, the play was questionable at best when scraping by third tier teams. Lingering with an unexperienced management duo may have cost the Westfield club.
Disappointing Transfer Windows
Question marks have also been raised as to the effectiveness of signings in the January window to bolster the squad in the most recent window.
Before Partick Thistle’s upturn in form, the Maryhill club dipped into the market to sign players such as Scott Tiffoney and Chris Erskine.
Meanwhile Falkirk took what seemed to be an unnecessary risk by signing Kai Fotheringham and Lewis Neilson who are unexperienced at League one level. Guaranteed quality could have been brought in to help with the promotion push.
Featured image credit: Ian Sneddon
Second year student at University of Stirling studying Sport and Journalism.
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