BAIRNS SPOT ON
Ayr pay price for miss by Maguire
THERE was a time when the term sleeping giant only applied to Falkirk when 6ft 7ins defender and cult hero Kevin James was taking a pre-match nap.
With their team stuck in a fourth season down in League One, however, fans of the fallen Bairns have had precious little to cheer about in recent times.
Last night, that all changed dramatically as a club that manager John McGlynn described as ‘almost at rock bottom’ in their 147-year history when he arrived last summer reached a first Scottish Cup semi-final in eight years.
Coming from behind to win this thrilling quarter-final with Championship Ayr United, Falkirk proudly took their place in the last-four against old foes Inverness Caley Thistle, also a division above them.
With Rangers drawing Celtic, a Scottish Cup season full of shocks will, fittingly, have a lower league finalist. McGlynn’s men had got off to a poor start when Dipo Akinyemi put Ayr into an early first-half lead but a storming second-half performance from the home side saw Calumn Morrison level from the spot.
And after Chris Maguire’s spotkick miss for Ayr, a deflected shot from substitute Kai Kennedy booked Falkirk their first trip to Hampden since losing the final 2-1 to Caley Thistle in 2015.
The Bairns had certainly gone into this game in good form, with ten wins, a draw and a defeat in their last 12 matches.
Before a ball was kicked, Ayr United boss Lee Bullen had also hailed the Championship’s top scorer Akinyemi as ‘the find of the season’.
The 25-year-old wasted no time showing why as he was involved immediately, sending a low cross into Reece McAlear, who headed wide. Then, a fine attacking move down the right from Falkirk ended with Sean McGinty blocking shots from Max Kucheriavyi and Stephen McGinn.
Ayr took the lead when Sam Ashford knocked the ball to Akinyemi. He turned Coll Donaldson and fired a low shot that took the slightest deflection off Brad McKay past Falkirk’s on-loan West Ham keeper Brian Kinnear.
The game was held up due to pyrotechnics thrown from the Ayr end. When the smoke had cleared, Akinyemi tried his luck from distance and it required a smart stop from Kinnear to turn the ball round the post.
Ayr should have had a second when a fine run down the left saw Ashford square for Akinyemi, who narrowly missed connecting at the back post.
The Bairns had a fine chance to level when McGinn’s header found Donaldson but he nodded over when he should have hit the target. Then a nicely worked set-piece by the Bairns ended with Donaldson having a shot but the ball didn’t sit up for him to strike it cleanly.
Falkirk were the stronger side after the break without carving out clear chances and McGlynn turned to Kennedy and Gary Oliver, who replaced the ineffectual Matthew Wright and Aidan Nesbitt.
Almost immediately, they were back in the game after Morrison had a shot turned round for a corner by goalkeeper Aidan McAdams. As the ball came in, Ayr’s Frankie Musonda handled as he challenged Liam Henderson.
Morrison cracked the ball into the bottom left corner of the net for a deserved leveller.
It took a fine triple save from Kinnear to stop two efforts from Akinyemi either side of a headed attempt from Ashford. Then there was high drama when Ayr were awarded a penalty of their own when Donaldson fouled Musonda.
Chris Maguire aimed his penalty for the postage stamp corner but struck the right post.
It proved the game’s turning point as substitute Kennedy’s shot from outside the box struck Musonda on the head and flew into the Ayr net.
Winning promotion to the Championship via the play-offs remains the priority for Falkirk but a money-spinning semi-final should help a club that recently posted losses of £1.2million.
For Bairns fans, however, the explosion of joy at the final whistle was truly priceless after their grim years of suffering. FALKIRK (4-1-4-1): Kinnear; Rowe, Donaldson, McKay, McCann; McGinn; C Morrison, Kucheriavyi (Yeats 82), Nesbitt (Kennedy 61), Henderson; Wright (Oliver 61). Subs not used: PJ Morrison, Williamson, McGuffie, Burrell, Lawal, Mackie. Booked: Donaldson, McCann. AYR UTD (4-4-2): McAdams; Houston, Musonda, McGinty, Reading; McKenzie (Bryden 87), Dempsey, McAlear, Ashford; Akinyemi, Maguire (Mitchell-Lawson 87). Subs not used: Albinson, Murdoch, Kirk, McAllister, Tomlinson, Bilham, Smith. Booked: McKenzie. Man of the Match: Brian Kinnear. Referee: Nick Walsh. Attendance: 6,375.