League leaders Falkirk increased their lead at the top of the SFL but they had to be at their best to overcome a battling Queens team who never gave up in an exciting match at the Falkirk Stadium. Queens caught the Bairns cold in the opening exchanges as they took the game to the home side. In 12 minutes the sizeable away support went bananas as Bowey charged right into the heart of the Falikrk to set up Lyle for the opening goal. There was a further shock for the league leaders two minutes later when a Burns cross was misjudged by keeper Ferguson and McLaughlan came running in to put Queens 2-0 up. This was a wake up call for Falkirk and the dark blues began to dominate although Bagan had a great chance to put Queens further ahead but blazed over. Queens looked like to have contained the Falkirk backlash but the Bairns pegged one back with a goal of absoulute simplicity which didn't show the Queens defence in good light. Mc Breen charged down the left crossed and Moutinho had the simplest of opportunities to stick the ball in the net on 17 minutes. Falkirk took a firm grip of the game afterwards as Queens defence seemed to wilt. It was no surprise when Falkirk equalised with an almost carbon copy of the first goal. This time it was Duffy who eluded the static Queens rearguard to cross for the unmarked Mc Breen to score on 42 minutes. Both teams took stock after this and the crowd took a breather. Falkirk however were the dominant side and Scott was still the busier keeper. Just as it looked as if Queens would be level at the interval some trickery by O'Neill on the right and a cross allowed McBreen to get a header in which struck the underside of the bar and over the line to give the Bairns an interval lead. It had been an amazing half but with Queens perhaps annoyed at losing a two goal lead.
Half-Time Falkirk 3 Queens 2
The second half was understandibly a bit disappointing compared with the first as Queens tightened up a bit at the back. Falkirk were still the dominant force and Queens rarely threatened until they changed their formation with two up front. Gibson also came on an looked like he had the beating of the Falkirk but the final ball into the box was easy meat for the towering James in the Falkirk defence. Nevertheless Queens held on until the 73rd minute when Mc Breen completed his hatrick after the Queens defence failed to clear. This was a highly entertaing game which Falkirk fully merited victory and they look very much like a potential Premier League outfit. They have in Lapaty an accomplished midfielder and the powerful Australian Mc Breen looks the part. Queens on the otherhand should not be too downhearted as they were up against top class oppostion and they certainly went down fighting. Bowey, Lyle and McLaughlan put in tremendous performances against all the odds but the defence struggled to cope with McBreen,Duffy and Co. It would be foolish to suggest we deployed the wrong tactics as we were up against a superior team and thank god we don't face this kind of oppostion every week. Scotty will have to regroup his troops and if we perform at the same level against Clyde we will give the Cumbernauld side a few problems. A word about the new Falkirk stadium. It certainly is impressive with a superb playing surface and a wonderful stand. The Queens fans however were unimpresed by the facilities for the away support which consisted of a temporary Gazebo-like stand and a few fans complained about lack of programmes and poor catering facilities.
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