Robbo rages at a crime of passion
BETFRED CUP
Inverness CT .................. 0 Falkirk ............................. 2 Alasdair Fraser
First-half goals from Joe McKee and Nathan Austin rewarded Falkirk’s dominance as they climbed a point above their Championship rivals in Group A with a game in hand.
Inverness improved after the break but it didn’t spare them a blast from Robbo who fielded seven new signings.
The Caley gaffer said: “I spoke to the boys at half-time about the basics – hard work, passion, desire and belief.
“Apart from the first 15 minutes, that was lacking. This club’s crest is a badge of honour – it’s not just a shirt you put on and decide whether you want to play.
“And they better realise that. If they don’t we’ll move people on.”
Austin had a 12-yard drive blocked by keeper Mark Ridgers before the breakthrough arrived in 21 minutes.
A slick passing move found Alex Harris wide right and his deflected cross allowed McKee to net from eight yards.
Ridgers had to race out to foil Austin clean behind the home defence with a perfectly-timed tackle in 35 minutes.
But it was 2-0 in 43 minutes when Rory Loy picked up a sliced clearance from Ridgers and shuttled the ball to Austin who curled a superb shot into the corner.
George Oakley’s blast drew a diving parry from Falkirk No.1 Robbie Thomson after the break while John Baird had the ball in the net against his old team with 10 minutes left but was flagged offside.
Bairns boss Peter Houston said: “John is building a new team here. It takes time.
“It has taken me three years to get Falkirk working the way we want.”