Boyle misses points
HIBS striker Martin Boyle was inconsolable after his glaring miss, when steadier nerves could have put Alan Stubbs’ men out of sight against the Bairns on Saturday.
‘I think I’ve let my team-mates down,’ was his withering assessment af t er t he Easter Road s i de squandered a two-goal advantage to slip further behind Rangers.
Boyle, making his first start since arriving on loan from Dundee, showed laudable pace and timing to spring the Falkirk offside trap early in the second half. He skipped around Jamie MacDonald with ease but, with the goal gaping, knocked the ball wide of the post.
At that point the score was 3-1 to t he hosts and Stubbs l ater described the errant effort as ‘a defining moment’.
That is perhaps harsh on Boyle, given his profligacy would have been irrelevant had Hibs been able to defend the simplest of cross balls throughout the match.
Neverthless, he did not shy away from the criticism after a spectacular draw which leaves the capital club eight points behind second-place Rangers and 21 adrift of league- leaders Hearts. ‘It was an easy chance,’ said Boyle, clearly in no mood to seek mitigating circumstances.
A share of the spoils seemed utterly inconceivable at the interval following a dominant first- half showing from the hosts.
Jason Cummings opened the scoring after 11 minutes, squeezing a left-footed drive past the despairing dive of MacDonald.
Parity was restored six minutes later when Bairns debutant John Baird was somehow allowed an unimpeded header from 12 yards to equalise.
Hibs regained their advantage when Cummings forced the ball over the line from close- range following a Liam Fontaine knock-down, and the irrepressible youngster ensured he would be going home with the match ball by heading in a Boyle cross just prior to the interval. ‘ We thought the game was won at half time and clearly it wasn’t,’ said the candid Boyle. Indeed it was not.
Falkirk halved arrears thanks to a Liam Craig own goal before Peter Grant, son of the former Celtic defender, fired the equaliser past Mark Oxley from close range.
‘I think we let ourselves down,’ continued Boyle. ‘ We were slack and it’s two points dropped. When you’re 3-1 up at half time, to only come away with a draw does feel like a defeat.
‘With a two-goal lead at the break, they’ve got to come out and you know you’ll get opportunities — like the one I had. But we didn’t take them and paid the price.
‘I was delighted to get an assist and maybe should have had a few goals myself but, in the end, it was two points dropped and we can’t afford that.’
Falkirk’s Baird, whose new team will now more than fancy their chances of a play-off place, said: ‘To come back after being 3-1 down at half time shows brilliant character.’