Falkirk boss John McGlynn admits team lacked 'cutting edge' in Raith Rovers loss

Having went toe-to-toe with Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic last weekend, Falkirk’s perfect start to the Scottish Championship season was axed by the Kirkcaldy strugglers – who secured 1-0 victory on Saturday afternoon thanks to an 11th minute penalty from Jack Hamilton.

And Neill Collins’ team frustrated the visiting Bairns up until the final whistle, with irked boss McGlynn saying that his players “fell into a trap” early on that they couldn’t get of.

"We are obviously disappointed to lose our league record,” he said. “It was always up there for someone to beat us.

"It was always going to go at some point in time.

"There was nothing in the game. A penalty decided it. It was a definite penalty.

"We put loads into the game but couldn't really cut through them. I would suggest that was their best defensive performance of the season as they have been leaking goals.

"We just didn't have that cutting edge today. Things just didn't quite click and you could feel that it just might not have been our day.

"We didn't start the game well. We fell into a trap. Our performance last weekend would have motivated whoever we played this weekend even more so.

"We fell into the trap of taking too many touches, being deeper in our own half and losing possession.

"That led to the penalty and we didn't deal with being pressed by the opposition.

"On a pitch that is really, really poor now - it doesn't take much for you to lose possession of the ball.

"After and before the penalty, there was nothing in the game. Little moments could have turned it; Ethan Ross had a great run in the first half and Dylan (Tait) has missed a header in the second half. Sean Mackie missed a header too.

"It wasn't a nailbiter was it? It wasn't classic, it was a door struggle and it looked like they were happy with the 1-0 and they sat back deeper and were hard to break down."

McGlynn was quick to quell any suggestions that facing his former club Raith handed the hosts any extra motivation to end Falkirk’s astonishing league run as he focused in on the positive start to the season.

Despite the Raith defeat, the Bairns can still climb to the top of second tier table if they pick up six points from their next two matches, which see them host top-dogs Ayr United and recently-relegated Livingston in a rearranged fixture.

“We have to realise that was always going to make them highly motivated. We fell into that trap.

"But every team would have wanted to beat us, especially after our performance against Celtic.

"We gave them situations in the game to frustrate us. We weren't bad today but we just didn't quite have enough.

"But the message is that we have 15 points out of 18 so far. That's not a bad start. We've got two home matches now after having five away games.

"It was always going to be difficult. Ayr United and Livingston are opportunities to bounce back."