SUNK BY A BOLT FROM THE BLUE
McHugh pounces to sicken sad Hibs
SIX years after Falkirk’s top-tier lights flickered and died one afternoon at Rugby Park, an opportunity for vengeance that’s simply beyond delicious now presents itself.
That Peter Houston’s side emerged from this titanic tussle with Hibernian over two legs by the narrowest of margins to now face Kilmarnock will not trouble them in the slightest.
An injury-time goal by Bob McHugh proved to be the difference between two sides so evenly matched this season that heavy machinery might have struggled to separate them.
For so long viewed as distant but hardly serious challengers for promotion, the Bairns are now 180 minutes away from healing the pain which has lingered since that grim Ayrshire day in 2010.
They are not there yet, of course. Rest assured, Lee Clark’s side will have plenty to say about that when the sides lock horns next Thursday and Sunday.
But with momentum now very much in their favour, it would take a brave man to bet against Falkirk not clearing the final hurdle that stands in their way.
Leading through Blair Alston’s early goal, they fell behind as James Keatings struck twice before the break.
But Luke Leahy’s volley with 11 minutes remaining and McHugh’s late, late show again turned a remarkable game on its head.
For Hibs, who finished the regular season two goals worse off than the Bairns, the suffering of their failure to recapture their Premiership status will be long and hard.
The Scottish Cup Final against Rangers next Saturday offers a chance for glory and enormous consolation but no one within Easter Road has ever tried to pretend where the priority has rested since the first action of this season.
The club seems to walk hand in hand with disaster these days. They seem to continually invent new ways to torture their fans.
Having been understandably cautious three days previously in Leith, the onus was on Falkirk to take the game to Hibs from the off. They duly obliged.
Leahy clearly enjoyed the licence to bound forward almost at will. His first cross of the night swerved back towards Conrad Logan’s goal and required the Irishman to clip it round his near post.
If Hibs were nursing a deep sense of injustice about David McCracken’s unpunished handball from the first game, there was initially little evidence of it.
Houston’s men controlled the early proceedings, deservedly taking the lead inside 13 minutes. The build-up — involving Leahy, Will Vaulks and McHugh in a quick flurry of exchanges down the left — was delightful.
McHugh’s final prod landed midway between Hibs’ defensive bank and Logan with no one coming close to matching Alston’s reaction speed. He expertly finished with a clip over the advancing keeper.
Hibs were struggling to make their presence felt. Anthony Stokes did leave a mark on the game but also on the shin of Aaron Muirhead. His petulance brought a booking from Craig Thomson that triggers a ban.
Falkirk’s midfield thought and acted faster than their counterparts throughout the first quarter of the contest. Brief respite and hope for Alan Stubbs came when John McGinn received the ball in space and tested Danny Rogers with a strike that took a nick off Mark Kerr. The keeper was not ruffled.
Just when you wondered how Hibs would restore parity, karma appeared centre stage. Liam Henderson’s pass in behind McCracken was a peach. Just as Keatings prepared to pull the trigger, the veteran defender clipped his heel. This time there was to be no escape and Thomson pointed to the spot.
Keatings dusted himself down and emphatically justified his inclusion by battering the spotkick into the bottom corner with Rogers going the wrong way.
Having had a stranglehold of the game for half an hour, Falkirk contrived to surrender their advantage within a nightmarish three-minute spell.
Stokes’ cross from the left towards Keatings was accurate enough but the former Hearts man seemed to pose no imminent danger. Somehow, though, his bouncing header from 12 yards had enough purchase to leave Rogers scrambling to cover the ground. To the keeper’s horror — and the delight of the large visiting throng — the ball nestled in the far corner of the net.
Only a fine interception by Paul Watson prevented Keatings turning Stokes’ cross home for a first-half hat-trick.
Just before the break, McGinn floated a fine cross on to Keatings’ head but this time his touch deserted him.
Doubtless Houston would have demanded more fight from his players in the second half but an early booking for Muirhead for taking out Lewis Stevenson was probably not what he had in mind.
Seeking the goal that would give them one foot in the final, McGinn smashed a 20-yarder over the top. Henderson also came close to claiming the decisive third only for Leahy’s outstretched leg to keep the contest alive.
David Gray was the next man in green to be denied — Leahy again the hero on the Falkirk goal-line to prevent his header finding the back of the net. Stokes also could have put his old side to the sword but headed meekly wide.
Myles Hippolyte and Miller replaced John Baird and Kerr for Falkirk on 58 minutes.
Keatings then had the ball in the net for a third time but was flagged offside.
Scott Shepherd replaced Alston, with Marvin Bartley becoming Hibs’ first switch as he came on for Dylan McGeouch.
With 11 minutes left, Falkirk levelled. Gray’s header wasn’t nearly strong enough and Leahy knew he had scored the instant his 18-yard howitzer left his left boot.
After that, Jason Cummings belatedly joined the action as a replacement for Keatings.
With two minutes left, the substitute smashed the bar with a 30-yarder and you felt it was going the distance.
But with 30 seconds remaining, Vaulks’ free-kick was poorly defended by the visitors and McHugh swooped to score a goal no one present will ever forget.