Falkirk seal promotion in nail-biting draw: Watch It Again Weekend - May 1986, Falkirk 2 East Fife 2

FALKIRK 2 EAST FIFE 2

If Alistair McLean had 
written this one as a thriller, he couldn’t have made it more dramatic or conjured up a more nailbiting climax.

Goals from Willie McGuire and Alan Irvine had given the Bairns a two-goal cushion and as the game moved into the final stages, victory and promotion looking to be in the bag.

East Fife had other ideas and, as the Falkirk side tensed up, the Fifers grabbed two quick late goals and came looking for a third.

For five terrible minutes, while the result from Forfar was still unknown, Falkirk’s dreams of glory hung by an agonisingly thin thread.

When referee Evans finally blew for full-time the thousands of Falkirk fans who flooded onto the park were not only overjoyed – they were overwhelmed with relief.

The tension during the final five minutes was almost unbearable.

As the champagne corks popped and Brockville echoed to the sound of over-joyed players singing in the bath and fans dancing on the terracings, manager Billy Lamont was breathing his own quiet sigh of relief.

“It was lucky there wasn’t another five minutes at the end,” he said. “When we scored the second I thought that was it but they really came back at us towards the end.”

Lamont’s sentiments were echoed by striker Jimmy Gilmour. Like the rest of the Falkirk team he emerged from the dressing room celebrations looking like he’d won the pools. But he too was pleased to hear the final whistle.

“The last five minutes were really tense. I knew we’d go up and in the end I’m glad we managed to do it by a clear point and not just on goal difference.”

As it turned out, with Forfar dropping a point at Alloa, Falkirk could have lost the game and still secured promotion. But as that piece of vital information was not known until 4.40pm on Saturday, Falkirk fans had to endure an afternoon of high drama – and anxiety.

That anxiety was fuelled not only by the fact that promotion was tantalisingly close but also by the fact that East Fife came to Brockville and unco-operatively decided not to lie down.

Indeed only the woodwork in the first half and a superb one-handed save by George Watson in the second stopped the Fifers from completely spoiling the party.

For long stretches of the match and especially after the first goal, East Fife looked a strong aggressive side.

If the Falkirk players were understandably nervous before the kick-off, the mood was not helped when the start was delayed by ten minutes to let the 7000 crowd into the ground.

One player, however, who did not show signs of nerves was little Willie McGuire. He immediately announced his presence when he combined well with Stuart Robertson in a lively one-two right from the kick-off.

McGuire was simply in a different class. On two occasions early on he killed difficult balls deftly on his thigh before turning inside to beat one of the giants who make up the East Fife back line.

And if any further demonstration of McGuire’s skills were necessary he provided it in the 11th minute with a goal of quite stunning quality.

The little man gathered the ball midway inside the East Fife half on the right. A burst of acceleration took him to the edge of the penalty area and just as it seemed like he might try to run past the East Fife defence he unleashed a superbly accurate left-foot shot which Marshall never saw until it was buried deep in the roof of the net.

The Falkirk fans in the Watson Street enclosure immediately exploded into song, but as the first-half wore on it became alarmingly apparent that East Fife were determined to have a big say in who called the tune.

In the 18th minute Watson had to summon up all his skills to turn a savage 18-yard drive from Hunter round the post.

Three minutes later Lady Luck, who has not exactly been the Bairns’ pal for large parts of this season, obligingly put the post in the way after Stead’s header had been cleverly dummied by Hunter.

The first thing George Watson knew of the drama was when the ball bounced off the upright and into his arms.

#Falkirk battled back in the later stages of the first half, but East Fife went on the offensive right after the interval with Hunter blasting one over the bar when he should have done better.

Two minutes later, in what must have been the save of the season, Watson somehow managed to change direction in mid-air and squeeze a Kirk header over the bar.

High drama at one end was quickly followed by more of the same at the other as Alan Irvine nipped in to snatch Falkirk’s second.

The big striker had had a lean afternoon but when he was put through by Gilmour he showed all his strength and shill to hold off Burgess and fire the ball low past the advancing Marshall in the 61st minute.

With the minutes passing agonisingly slowly, Falkirk seemed to fall into a trans and could only watch as East Fife came terrifyingly close to turning a dream into a nightmare.

With only eight minutes left a long-range effort from McCafferty skidded treacherously on the greasy surface and show past a transfixed Watson. Four minutes later East Fife were unbelievable level.

This time it was ex-Bairn John Mitchell who popped up to prod the ball home from the middle of an untidy goalmouth melee.

#For four ghastly minutes it looked like East Fife might do the unthinkable. But the thin blue line held and, after 10 years of waiting, Falkirk were back on the map.