For the best part of an hour at The Falkirk Stadium yesterday, the crunch bottom of the table encounter between the hosts and Partick Thistle was one of the best arguments yet for reintroducing alcohol to Scottish football.
Eventually though, a match broke out after Thistle took the lead through Craig Slater only to be pegged back instantly by Joe McKee, and the visitors were the ones with the biggest regrets at the end despite earning their first point under new manager Gary Caldwell and halting a seven-game losing streak.
“It is frustrating, but I thought we were outstanding,” said Caldwell.
“To come away from home in a big game and a pressure game as everyone on the outside was calling it, and to dominate it and control it with bravery in possession, I thought the players were outstanding.
“We will get that other bit, it will come, but this is a start we have to build on.
“There was a big progression in performance and we didn’t get the points we deserved.”
The day started inauspiciously for the visitors as Cammy Bell felt pain in his calf as he dived in the warm-up, meaning young keeper Jamie Sneddon had to step up from the bench.
The lack of incident early on made for a hard watch, but to be fair to Thistle, they were passing the ball well at least. Their final product though, particularly from Miles Storey on the right, was as grim as the view over the Grangemouth refinery.
It took over 20 minutes for the first shot to be registered, as Blair Spittal hit one from range that Leo Fasan in the Falkirk goal gathered comfortably.
The home players were giving a rather convincing impression that they had only been introduced to one another that morning, but they eventually cobbled something together as Dennon Lewis squared for Ruben Sammut, but the Scotland under-21 cap could only hit his shot wildly over on the turn.
You may have thought that Falkirk would have wanted to test stand-in keeper Sneddon, but Thomas Robson’s long-ranger just a few minutes before the break straight at the 21-year-old was the first save he had to make.
Thistle were looking lively at the start of the second half, and Spittal’s low pull-back after hitting the byline just evaded the arriving cavalry.
It looked as though a goal was coming for the visitors though and it duly arrived moments later as the ball was worked across the edge of the box from Kris Doolan to Spittal and then finally to Slater to bury the ball low past Fasan into the bottom corner for a deserved lead.
But from absolutely nothing, Falkirk were level within a minute. A hopeful ball forward was flicked on into the path of McKee, and with the Thistle defence posted missing, the former Morton man poked the ball over Sneddon and into the net.
Suddenly, we had a game on, and Fasan had to look sharp to turn a Spittal free-kick over the bar, before both sides could have nicked it with decent openings late on. Spittal just failed to connect with Christie Elliott’s driven ball across the six-yarder, before Marcus Haber saw a header deflected just wide at the other end.
The draw leaves Falkirk still rooted to the bottom of the Championship table, but manager Ray McKinnon was satisfied enough with that given they were missing key men like Zak Rudden to international duty.
“I’m delighted, we’re missing three or four key players from a small squad, including our two key strikers, and to get the point is excellent,” said McKinnon.
“Overall, we’ve got to be pleased and we showed a great response from going a goal down."
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