A GAME that entertained plenty but satisfied few left Steven Pressley ruing both the late concession that deprived his Falkirk side of a victory and earlier the dismissal that contributed it.
Billy Reid, meanwhile, bemoaned the fact his Hamilton team did not fully exploit the numerical advantage they held for the final half-hour by going on to win.
Both sides sit mid-table in the Irn-Bru First Division – Pressley's side more comfortably than their hosts – lacking a consistency in keeping with their undoubted potential. Falkirk, in particular, suffered from a lack of experience, a side with an average age of 20 not possessing the requisite nous to see this game out.
It had appeared that Lyle Taylor's goal would be decisive for the visitors. Powerful, mobile and technically proficient, the 22-year-old Englishman has assumed the mantle discarded by Farid El Alagui to become Falkirk's talisman, with his 13th-minute intervention yesterday an eighth goal in little more than four games and a 16th for the term.
It was an effort that showcased his strength, anticipation and composure. Alive to the possibilities when Kevin Cuthbert scuffed a kick out towards Conner McGlinchey, Taylor beat Martin Canning to the left-back's panicked jab infield, advanced on Cuthbert and rolled a calm finish across the goalkeeper.
"He has taken a little bit of time to buy into the culture here, but he's done so now," Pressley said. "One of the attractions for him playing here is the shop window it can give him, but I hope we can hold on to him this month."
The visitors spent much of the last half-hour protecting their lead after the dismissal of Jonny Flynn. There appeared little danger as Gary Fisher pursued a through ball, but the centre-back hauled the Hamilton midfielder to the floor, with referee Brian Colvin deeming he had prevented a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Until then, Hamilton had endured a difficult afternoon. While Taylor thrived as a lone striker, Stevie May had been left isolated against Falkirk's redoubtable centre-backs as Hamilton struggled to get support up to the on-loan St Johnstone forward. On the one occasion he did cleave an opening, wriggling past Ryan McGeever after Ali Crawford dispossessed Flynn, the striker could only drag a shot across the face of goal.
Seven points adrift of Falkirk having played two games fewer, Reid's side would have looked upon this match as an opportunity to haul themselves away from the squabble at the bottom of the division. A run of four wins in their previous six outings should have engendered confidence, but it took the sending-off to rouse the hosts.
Reshaping his team, Reid moved Crawford infield and the playmaker began to exert his influence. One teasing effort floated just over the bar, another caused Michael McGovern to throw himself across goal to push past a post, and a third also necessitated a flying intervention from the goalkeeper.
Alex Neil had a header cleared from the goalline by Blair Alston and May forced McGovern into another fine stop before Falkirk's resistance finally cracked with 10 minutes left McGovern got into difficulties attempting to claim Crawford's cross and, after making several attempts to grasp the ball, it squirted clear for substitute Darian McKinnon to prod over the line.
"At that stage there was only one winner," said Reid, whose side came close to snatching victory when Andy Ryan and then May just missed the target from distance. "We need to put sides away in that situation because other teams in this league will do that."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article