Happy Houston raises bar for Bairns
FALKIRK manager Peter Houston watched his side blow Raith Rovers away, then urged his Bairns to hunt down second-placed Dundee United.
This was Falkirk’s first win since December 3 and it consolidated their position in fourth as they moved five points clear of Rovers.
Houston is hopeful of matching last season’s secondplace Championship finish and hopes his team can start bridging the eight-point gap with his old club United.
‘It would be a disaster and a failure if we didn’t make the play-offs — but why not look above us?’ the Falkirk boss said.
‘There are 16 games still to go and why can’t we get that consistency, winning five or six on the trot?
‘We will look where we are at the end of January but, hopefully, we can target matching what we did last season.’
Rovers took an early lead when Chris Johnston’s shot spun up off keeper Danny Rodgers and found its way into the net.
But Myles Hippolyte’s beautiful 25-yard free-kick brought parity for Falkirk six minutes later. Bob McHugh edged the Bairns in front with a fine thumping low finish, before the key moment of the match arrived when Rodgers made an incredible save from a close-range Declan McManus header.
Within seconds, Rovers keeper Kevin Cuthbert blundered by letting Craig Sibbald’s speculative 25-yard effort swerve past him and into the net.
‘It was a pivotal moment in the game,’ said Houston. ‘Danny’s not been doing too badly, but good keepers dig you out of holes when you need it the most.
‘Danny did that last season, saving a penalty against Rangers, but he has not hit that standard yet.
‘But today he was back to his best. I don’t know how he saved that. It was absolutely magnificent.’
Sibbald scored his second three minutes after the restart when his shot from a cut-back by exciting Falkirk prospect Tony Gallacher took a deflection off Kyle Benedictus and found the bottom-left corner.
It completed a bad day for Rovers boss Gary Locke, who saw new signing Ryan Stevenson taken to hospital with concussion after a head knock sustained in an accidental first-half collision with Rodgers.
‘It was a disappointing day,’ said Locke. ‘But you’re not going to win games if you lose the goals we did today.’