Falkirk fight back to secure Scottish Championship title after 3-1 win over Hamilton Accies

Ethan Ross was the man of the moment, scoring a brilliant brace to put the Bairns into party mode before Calvin Miller rifled home a third to seal the title and a 3-1 victory, writes Robbie Hill.

Title-chasing Falkirk got off to the worst possible start. Hamilton swung in a dangerous ball from a long distance free-kick which the Bairns’ backline simply failed to deal with. Despite Nicky Hogarth making a great save from the initial header, the rebound landed very kindly for ex-Livingston ace Scott Robinson who tapped it into an empty net after five minutes.

The Bairns didn’t seem to panic though and throughout the next 25 minutes, they were utterly dominant and took the game to Hamilton who were showing signs of cracking. Scott Arfield had his header met by a fantastic save from Dean Lyness before a penalty claim was waved away by referee, Steven McLean, who instead booked Brad Spencer for simulation.

Falkirk fight back to secure league title and Scottish Premiership promotion

It seemed like Falkirk were going to need a moment of magic if they were going to resurrect their title charge. Arfield’s quick feet on the edge of the box saw him win a free-kick 20-yards from goal. Winger Ross was the man to provide that spark just after the half hour mark as he curled the ball above the wall and into the top-left corner to pull The Bairns level. The Falkirk Stadium erupted into life once more and fans were beginning to believe the title was coming to FK2.

Falkirk’s dominance did not stop either as many more chances were created before the whistle sounded for half-time. Despite heading into the break level, it looked increasingly clear that this game was in the host’s hands.

The second half began slightly less one-sided than the first with Hamilton taking the sting out of the game. This continued until the hour mark when Falkirk delivered a corner which the visitors failed to deal with. The ball eventually fell to feet of Ross after a stramash - and he rifled home into the roof of the net from close range on the hour mark, sending a wave of ecstasy around The Falkirk Stadium as the stands erupted once more.

Falkirk was in pure party mode at this point with title rivals, Livingston, still losing to Partick Thistle. Just when things couldn’t get any better for The Bairns, Calvin Miller smashed home the deciding goal after 71 minutes as he cut inside from the left wing before sending a low piledriver into the bottom right corner to secure the three points.

And it could have been more for John McGlynn’s side. Lyness made a stunning reflex stop to deny substitute Aidan Nesbitt but the Bairns were eventually happy to settle for a 3-1 win with the supporters on the sidelines ready to invade the pitch and celebrate with their heroes.

Falkirk 3-1 Hamilton Accies: Starting XIs, substitutes and refereeing team.

Falkirk Starting XI: Nicky Hogarth, Liam Henderson, Brad Spencer ©, Gary Oliver, Keelan Adams, Dylan Tait, Luke Graham, Ethan Ross (33’, 59’), Sean Mackie, Calvin Miller (71’), Scott Arfield.

Subs: Ross Munro, Leon McCann, Tom Lang, Miller Thomson, Ross MacIver, Aidan Nesbitt, Alfredo Agyeman, Barney Stewart, Eamonn Brophy.

Hamilton Accies Starting XI: Dean Lyness, Dylan McGowan, Jamie Barjonas, Steven Bradley, Ricki Lamie, Kyle MacDonald, Scott Robinson ©(5’), Nikolay Todorov, Oli Shaw, Reghan Tumilty, Stephen Hendry.

Subs: Charlie Albinson, Lee Kilday, Sean McGinty, Euan Henderson, Kevin O’Hara, Connor Smith, Barry Maguire, Stuart McKinstry, Tony Gallagher.

Referee: Steven McLean. Assistant Referees: Calum Spence and Steven Taylor. Fourth Official: Duncan Nicolson.

Attendance: 7,633.