Falkirk 3 Dundee United 1: Oh what a night....

Myles Hippolyte helped move Falkirk into third with an excellent second half display in the Ladbrokes Championship's late kick-off.
John Baird opens the scoring. Pic by Michael Gillen.John Baird opens the scoring. Pic by Michael Gillen.
John Baird opens the scoring. Pic by Michael Gillen.

The winger was omnipresent for the Bairns, covering every blade of the Falkirk Stadium's plastic surface and scored the go-ahead goal for the Bairns late on in an entertaining 3-1 win that puts the Bairns level with Raith Rovers in the Championship table

John Baird had continued his return to form with a classy header, only to see it levelled by a tight Tope Obadeyi strike send the sides in equal at the interval.

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But then a much improved personal performance from winger Hippolyte- where he defended as well as he attacked - saw him hand the Bairns the lead and then sub Lee Miller added gloss with a final say for Peter Houston's side.

To face his former employers for the first time as Falkirk manager, Houston had named an identical one to the week previous when his side saw off Ray McKinnon's old side Raith Rovers. The now United boss pitched in on-loan Norwich forward Tony Andreu to his side that also boasted Willo Flood and the towering Simon Murray up front.

It was Murray who had the first chance of the game, holding off Luca Gasparotto and looping a shot over Danny Rogers and onto the top of the bar.

It was a warning not heeded by the Bairns as Murray again got a chance to score, but squandered it well over the crossbar after Danny Rogers had spilled a close-range shot from Nick van der Velden from Tope Obadeyi's cross when the ex-Killie man gamboled down the wing hurdling challenges from Tom Taiwo and ex-Arab David McCracken.

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United had failed to take two good chances but when Falkirk got their sniff at goal they made it count. They had already been denied a clear cut penalty kick by ref Crawford Allan when Bob McHugh was felled by Cammy Bell chasing a ball OUT of the box but a wonderful cross INTO it from Tom Taiwo was steered into the top corner by John Baird's head and the Bairns were ahead.

The little striker has had a long spell off the scoresheet but after a double against Elgin and the opener at Raith Rovers he appears back to his best.

They could have had more, McHugh placed a brilliant header past Cammy Bell but though the keeper was rooted to the spot, it smacked the base of the post.

United immediately pressed forward and got their reward with the equaliser two minutes later. Again it came with Obadeyi getting the freedom of the Bairns left and he cut inside and beat Rogers from an acute angle with Nick van der Velden on the line to make sure the visitors went into the interval level.

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It had been an entertaining first half with both sides intent on playing open football, and it seemed to suit Falkirk too.

It was a little more coy in the second half with both sides cancelling the other out for the most part, but United threatened on the break but hadn't counted on winger Myles Hippolyte racing back and making some crucial defensive interventions for the Bairns. His attacking interventions made all the difference too.

Peter Houston pitched in John Rankin - who drew a huge round of applause from the away support - as he replaced Craig Sibbald, and Lee Miller - who drew the opposite in replacing Bob McHugh.

Miller had the last laugh though converting Falkirk's third after Hippolyte had given the Bairns the win by tapping in from close range a shot that was deflected by Bell to restore Falkirk's lead with three minutes to play.

Lee Miller then put the icing on the cake with a third which puts the Bairns joint third in the SPFL Championship table.