Falkirk 15 GHK 13: Top six hopes still alive

Although they are currently lying below Preston Lodge in seventh at the moment, they will need to win all of those remaining matches to stand a chance.

Most unfortunately for both sides the weather was not kind to them at all as the whole match was played in a constant deluge coupled with a troublesome swirling wind. Nevertheless that did not stop both sides from getting on with the task ahead with Falkirk having the advantage of the strong wind in the first half.

With honours even for the first quarter of the encounter the deadlock was broken in the 24th minute when GHK’s open-side flanker Cameron Crozier was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle and Falkirk’s stand-off Duncan Tompkins converted the penalty.

Continuing to gain the upper hand, and take the game to their opponents, Falkirk’s spell of concerted pressure bore fruit when their number eight David Stoddart crashed over for a deserved try in the 36th minute, which Tompkins duly converted for a half time 10-0 score.

However it was a completely different story after the break when the Glaswegians scored directly from the restart as they used the weather conditions to their advantage.

Containing Falkirk on their five metre line the visitors’ pressure and perseverance saw them breach Falkirk’s try line when Paul Polson barged over for the touchdown, with stand-off Kyle Henderson slotting over the conversion, and just three minutes later the same man then went on to convert a penalty to tie the match at 10-10.

As the rain continued to lash down both sides fought out a dour struggle before Henderson put G.H.K. ahead with a further penalty conversion in the 65th minute as the away side began to get the upper hand.

With the end of the match looming the drama increased as G.H.K. were awarded a penalty, which Henderson missed, and Falkirk mounted a last ditch onslaught on the visitors’ try line, with lock-forward Gregor Dodd crashing over for the match winning try in the 77th minute.