Falkirk boss John McGlynn hails side for 'digging in' to earn derby win over Pars

The Bairns made sure they stayed four points clear at the top of the William Hill Championship by earning a Westfield win over the Pars for the first time in over seven years, with a first-half own goal from Chris Hamilton and a Calvin Miller finish just before the hour mark enough to seal the three points.

Lewis McCann’s header halved the deficit for Dunfermline, and they pushed for a leveller, but they couldn’t find a way past an imperious Bairns’ backline – much to the delight of the boss.

"We are delighted to win a derby game,” McGlynn beamed. “It was a game with a lot of action. It was tight. We showed a strong mentality to dig in and hold onto the lead.

"Previously, we’ve played well in these games and maybe not got the result – today we got a little bit of payback on that.

"We had to defend. We were the better team first half and we could have been further ahead than one goal that we managed to get.

"Some of our football was brilliant. We could have added to our goal before we got the second one. We had a 2v2 that we need to better from.

“There is a 50/50 penalty call that doesn’t go our way. Some referees would have given it and some wouldn’t.

"Dunfermline had nothing to lose and they threw everything at us second half as you would expect.”

Although McGlynn wasn’t pleased with his team’s concession of a goal from a set-piece, he singled out Dundee loanee Luke Graham for praise.

The 20-year-old centre-back has excelled since joining last month, playing every minute of the six Championship outings he has been at the club for alongside stand-in defender Liam Henderson.

McGlynn said: “We got really sloppy in possession second half. We tried to do too much.

"Dunfermline will score a lot of their goals from set-plays and we gave them that opportunity.

"We had to clear a few off the line. Nicky (Hogarth) has come for a ball and it was headed beyond him but Luke (Graham) was there to clear it.

"He had another important one later on in the game. We’re delighted to have him.”