Bairns too strong for gallant Rose
But boss Ferguson proud of his players
Linlithgow Rose boss Brown Ferguson said he was proud of his team’s efforts despite their Scottish Cup campaign being brought to an end at home to Falkirk.
The Bairns sealed their place in the fourth round by seeing off the East of Scotland Premier League outfit in front of the BBC cameras and a 1720 capacity crowd at Prestonfield on Friday night.
Conor Sammon twice scored in the first half, either side of Tommy Coyne’s close range equaliser.
And the tie was still very much up in the air until the 77th minute when Declan McManus netted Falkirk’s third. Paul Dixon rounded off the scoring in the closing minutes.
Ferguson said: “I’m really pleased with the effort the players put into the game but we got beat by the better team on the evening.
“Falkirk were very sharp and they never really allowed us to get a foothold in the game but for 80 minutes we were very much in the game.”
He added: “We made bad mistakes and got punished for them.
“The players stuck at it but Falkirk were at the top of their game. We can learn from that but in terms of effort and attitude, they never gave up and those are attributes we need to take forward.”
It was a first ever competitive match between two sides separated by seven miles and three divisions.
But there would be no disastrous start for the away side’s interim management team of Lee Miller and David McCracken as the Bairns were in front within eight minutes.
McManus did well to nick the ball off Rose left-back Kevin McKinlay and Sammon collected his pass before firing past Michael McKinven from inside the area.
The Rose fans who were silenced would be in fine voice 12 minutes later when Owen Ronald’s corner was flicked on by Ross Allum with the prolific Coyne on hand to turn the ball into the net.
Falkirk restored the lead before the break, though, when Sammon was left unmarked six yards out to slot the ball into the far corner.
A scrappy second half was dominated by Falkirk with McManus being repelled on several occasions by McKinven before slotting home in the 77th minute.
Dixon pounced to net the rebound after McKinven had parried a Sammon effort four minutes from time to book his side’s safe passage into the fourth round.