falkirk 3 Muirhead (17), Sibbald (28), Nelson (60)

brechin city 0

Brechin City manager Darren Dods, renowned for being a gentleman in football circles, admitted that he would have to channel the services of some of Scotland’s more abrasive managerial personalities to vent his frustrations after witnessing his side reduced to nine men thanks to some questionable refereeing. Sean Crighton and Paul Mclean were dismissed by whistler Stephen Finnie before half-time, effectively ending the match as a contest.

“The game was over at halftime,” Dods stated:

“It was damage limitation after that. I can’t really say too much but I’d like Stephen Finnie to get Neil Lennon or someone like Neil Mccann or a Dick Campbell. I’ve been a player when he has refereed so I don’t know if he holds a grudge. That’s the way it is. I’ll just need to dust off my boots and lose a few pounds for Tuesday night, I think.”

The perplexing officiating started early on as City keeper Graeme Smith was lucky to escape with a booking after scything down Andrew Nelson who had a clear path to goal.

The Bairns went in front when a body swerve from Aaron Muirhead wrong-footed the home defence, allowing the club captain to easily evade Smith to fire home.

Paul Hartley’s men carved open the away defence with ease for their second as Alex Jakubiak allowed Louis Longridge to get to the byline. The defender cut the ball back to an eager Craig Sibbald for the simplest of finishes.

Jakubiak’s undoubted skill was the catalyst for Brechin’s ails as Crighton and Mclean were both clumsy in their tackles on the on-loan Watford striker but neither warranted a straight red.

Falkirk extended their lead on the hour mark with Andy Nelson prodding home.

Hartley said: “The second half was a strange game because of what we faced. We got the job done which was the pleasing thing.”