Darryl Duffy's goal inspires a late fightback but the Bairns still go down to their Fife rivals......Match Report and Pictures now online.....

Falkirk's recent run of poor form meant the visit of Dunfermline Athletic was in the "must win" category. Despite rumours of wholesale changes, John Hughes made only two from the side which was heavily defeated by Hearts. Stephen O'Donnell's suspension meant a return to the starting line-up for Steven Thomson, and in a surprise move, Alan Gow dropped to the bench allowing Tiago Rodrigues to bolster a leaky defence which has already conceded 40 goals this season.

Predictably the game started at a frantic pace and the first chance fell to the home side in just five minutes. With a burst of speed through the middle, Darryl Duffy outstripped Andy Tod causing the big defender to bundle Falkirk's top scorer down on the edge of the box and earn himself a yellow card. Latapy waited patiently to the strike the kick as the referee sorted out some frenzied pushing and shoving in the defensive wall, but Russell would have been disappointed with his effort which flew high over the bar.

Four minutes later, Lima earned a corner with a brave run down the left. Latapy's effort was headed behind for another flag kick but this time the Falkirk No.10  played it short to McPherson who cleverly teed up Thomson on the "D", however the midfielder completely missed his kick to let the Fife defence off the hook.

Steven Thomson was noticeably limping after a tackle and he nipped off for touchline treatment from Paul Green before Mason caught Milne late with his arm as the defender tackled him. A quick word from Referee Toner to the Pars midfielder was interrupted as the Falkirk bench signalled the injured Thomson's departure to be replaced by Ryan McStay.

Dunfermline pushed forward for the first time in the game and Mark Burchill sped away from Ireland as they raced toward the Falkirk box before the striker launched himself theatrically to the ground but the Referee was having none of the strikers claim for a foul. With twenty minute showing, Mason foolishly went in late on Scally and was yellow carded as the game began to warm up. The same player had a half chance for the visitors three minute later but he drove an effort high and wide from 20 yards.

Falkirk replied with a wonderful Duffy run which saw him leave Wilson for dead on the left but there was a noticeable lack of home attackers in the box and with the late-arriving Latapy struggling to control the square pass before shooting, McGregor saved comfortably. Back came the Pars  and Glennon somehow got caught on the byeline as he raced from goal but Hunts cross-come-shot from the loose ball was headed away on the goal-line by Craig Ireland.

There was little between the teams and McCunnie was warned after a late-tackle on McPherson as both outfits tried to gain the upper hand. With the first half-hour up, Ross gave the home support a scare when he rattled a ball across Glennon's six yard box and it was only a foot away from the inrushing Burchill.

The Bairns should have been ahead a minute later. Latapy, on the counter-attack, raced through and laid off a perfect ball to Duffy who did everything right by lifting his shot over the advancing ‘keeper from six yards but it smacked off the face of the bar with the unfortunate Scally miskicking the rebound. This was the home side's best spell of the match and from another Latapy corner, Ireland's powerful header was pushed away by McGregor and only a defender's desperate block prevented Scally from forcing the ball home.

Two minutes later another lightning Falkirk break saw McGregor having to race from goal and launch a clearance out of the ground to deny the speedy Duffy.

The Pars weren't out of it and from a corner there was a real scramble as both Hunt and Burchill tried to get shots in at Glennon before the impressive Milne cleared the danger.

Duffy made another good break with 42 minutes on the stopwatch cutting inside of Tod to fire in a low shot which McGregor held easily. It was anybody's game at this stage and Tiago could count himself lucky not to be carded as he despatched Hunt to the deck with a crude challenge out on the halfway-line.

With the interval beckoning, Jim Leishman's side shocked Falkirk with a goal out of nothing. McPherson failed to win an aerial duel in the box and the ball fell invitingly for Mark Burchill to fire a low shot wide of the diving Glennon from 15 yards.

Half-Time : Falkirk 0 Dunfermline Athletic 1

The Fife side were quicker out of the traps as the second-half started, Hunt skipping by Tiago in 49 minutes, only to be tripped and out came the yellow card for the Bairns defender. Even this early in the proceedings, you could hear the unrest emanating from the West Stand as the home support demanded changes with McBreen high on the list in the popularity stakes to enter the fray.

Yogi relented and introduced the big Aussie for McPherson, but the removal of "Hagi" in 57 minutes was another unpopular decision with the Falkirk faithful. What happened a minute later was even more traumatic for the suffering fans. A ball to the back post by Wilson saw Noel Hunt, of all people, outjump Scally to loop a header over the stranded Glennon into the net and spark wild celebrations among the travelling support.

The Bairns looked rattled and Ireland had to dump the lively Hunt with a blatant bodycheck before Darren Young redressed the balance with a similar challenge on McBreen as both sets of fans screamed their disapproval from the stands. McStay was the next casualty, caught with a late challenge as he knocked a pass down the line.

On the hour mark, a dreaming Tiago was caught in possession by Burchill but the striker wasted a golden chance as he advanced on goal but rushing the shot and it skewed away from goal. His team-mates were less than impressed with his charity and neither was his manager as that was the last action for the Portuguese defender. Following a wayward Ryan McStay drive, Tiago stormed angrily up the tunnel to be replaced by Gow.

Gow immediately set up McBreen to angle a drive wide of the post from almost on the byeline. His second assist was more successful, curling a ball on to the six yard line from the left-wing and Darryl Duffy appeared from nowhere to despatch it clinically past McGregor to the delight and relief of the home support. Time - 68 minutes.

Andy Tod had a chance for Dunfermline from the restart joining his forwards to nod narrowly over from 8 yards. The goal had inspired Falkirk though and the visitors set up camp around their 18-yard box as the Bairns turned the screw. Gow was unlucky, flicking a shot against the bar with McGregor beaten, then a Duffy cross was headed wide by Craig Ireland with the Pars defence nowhere. With his team under pressure, Burchill crazily ran twenty yards to bring down Lawrie which allowed the defender to send in yet another dangerous high ball into the Dunfermline box from the free-kick. McBreen leaped highest but failed to connect.

The blitz continued and Scally was unlucky with a floating shot which looked destined for the top corner until McGregor acrobatically pushed the effort over the top. Time was running out but the Bairns kept up the momentum. Duffy was tripped on the edge of the box with six minutes left and Gow curled a brilliant free-kick round the wall only to see it thump off McGregor's left-hand upright.

Hunt relieved the pressure with a tired looking run and shot which Glennon held with ease before the Irishman was hooked for Labonte. With seconds remaining Gow lashed a shot high over the bar from 20 yards and then with almost the last kick of the ball, McGregor had to tip a wicked deflection over his bar. From the resultant corner, Glennon joined the attack but to no avail, it just wasn't going to be Falkirk's day...again...

With 93 minutes showing, it was all over.

Full-Time : Falkirk 1 Dunfermline Athletic 2

Falkirk: Glennon, Lawrie, McPherson (McBreen 57), Rodrigues (Gow 64), Ireland, Scally, Milne, Steven Thomson (McStay 16), Lima, Duffy, Latapy.
Subs Not Used: Ferguson, Moutinho, O'Neil, Twaddle.
Booked: Rodrigues.
Goals: Duffy 68.

Dunfermline: McGregor, Shields, Ross, Tod, Scott Wilson, Darren Young, Thomson, McCunnie, Mason, Burchill (Tarachulski 82), Hunt (Labonte 88).
Subs Not Used: Halliwell, Campbell, Craig Wilson, Dunn.
Booked: Tod, Mason, Hunt.
Goals: Burchill 45, Hunt 58.

Attendance: 6,235
Ref: Kevin Toner

*Steven Thomson and Gary Mason

*Darryl Duffy beats the 'keeper but hits the bar

*Tiago and Tod lock horns

*No time to lose...Duffy chasing the equaliser

*McBreen pressures McGregor

*McGregor touches over Neil Scally's effort

*Matt Glennon joins the attack