Falkirk youngsters give John Hughes lift for the future

Falkirk answered John Hughes’s call to cast aside the disappointment that has clung to the club since failing to make the top six of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, by overcoming Heart of Midlothian last night to close the gap on their opponents.

The home team had slipped to eighth place because of the post-split hangover but a clinical header from Carl Finnigan proved crucial as he doubled the advantage supplied by Tam Scobbie. Hearts responded with a late goal from Deveidas Cesnauskis but offered a pale shadow of what Tynecastle fans expect.

Although these teams had nothing tangible to play for, the future was clearly in the minds of both managers. Hughes gave a debut to Chris Mitchell, a teenager, at right back, a consequence of Jack Ross’s announcement of his move to St Mirren as a free agent. Stephen Frail embraced a similar philosophy for the visiting team, Gary Glen making his third successive start in attack after two goals in two starts for the 18-year-old.

Mitchell’s presence increased the home-bred contribution of Hughes’s side to four players. Scott Arfield is the most-prized of Falkirk’s youth academy graduates and the midfield player underlined why after just three minutes when he burst into the box to gather Kevin McBride’s low cross and thrashed in a shot that was pushed wide by Steve Banks, the goalkeeper.

Hughes’s commitment to total football meant that Mitchell saw plenty of the ball in the opening 20 minutes, as Falkirk, at times, overdid their passing in defence. The debutant showed fine anticipation to snuff out a threat from Saulius Mikoliunas when the Hearts midfield player was poised to finish off a low cross from Jason Thomson.

Mitchell’s athleticism was also evident a few minutes later when he dovetailed with Finnigan as the latter won a corner. Hearts, though, created a better opportunity from the subsequent counter-attack, which ended with Laryea Kingston thrashing a right-foot shot that was beaten past the post by Shane Supple, the goalkeeper.

Hearts’ frustrations grew in the 28th minute when they were denied a penalty after Glen’s advance was clearly halted by Gerald Aafjes inside the box. Stuart Dougal, the referee, somehow felt that the offence had taken place just outside and awarded a free kick, from which Kingston failed to trouble Supple.

The Edinburgh side’s mood would have darkened even further two minutes later had Pedro Moutinho taken advantage of a dreadful passback by Ruben Palazuelos, the Hearts midfield player, but Moutinho’s fierce long-range shot was narrowly wide. Glen’s night was cut short after 35 minutes. He had been suffering since the foul by Aafjes and limped off, to be replaced by Jamie Mole. Dougal’s capricious decision-making irritated Hughes and the Falkirk manager, who is about to start a six-game touchline ban, was spoken to by the referee for his loud criticism.

However, Hughes had a smile on his face as Falkirk broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time. Finnigan’s perseverance won a free kick from Jose Gonçalves just outside the box on the the right side. Scobbie’s delivery sought out Moutinho at the back post and his header was met with a venomous overhead kick that was superbly turned wide by Banks. Moutinho took the corner and picked out Scobbie, who was unmarked and hooked in a left-foot volley from 12 yards.

Any hopes that Hearts were harbouring of regaining a foothold in the contest were dashed in the 51st minute as Falkirk doubled their lead. Patrick Cregg’s fine switch of play allowed Scobbie to head the ball across the face of goal and Finnigan was given complete freedom to plant a header past Banks.

Hearts’ disarray was symbolised by Kingston, who cut a sorry, peripheral figure in the second half.

Frail introduced Cesnauskis for Calum Elliot just after the hour and the Lithuania player showed the two faces of his game. He was booked for diving as he tried to dupe a penalty from Dougal but scored a sublime goal in the 77th minute.

Kingston was the architect, getting beyond Scobbie before clipping a low cross into the box that was gathered by Cesnauskis, who rounded Supple before firing a tight finish from the byline into the roof of the net.

Falkirk (4-3-3): S Supple — C Mitchell, D Barr, G Aafjes, T Scobbie — K McBride, P Cregg, S Arfield — C Finnigan, M Higdon, P Moutinho (sub: R Latapy, 72). Substitutes not used: R Olejnik, B Clarke, G Barrett, S Bradley, M Stuart, M Staunton. Booked: Aafjes.

Heart of Midlothian (4-4-2): S Banks — J Thomson, C Berra, C Karipides, J Gonçalves — L Kingston, E Jonsson, R Palazuelos, S Mikoliunas (sub: L Wallace, 40) — G Glen (sub: J Mole, 35), C Elliot (sub: D Cesnauskis, 63). Substitutes not used: M Ridgers, M Stewart, M Zaliukas, F Screpis. Booked: Palazeulos, Cesnauskis, Thomson.

Referee: S Dougal.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk