Taiwo counts his 100th league game for Falkirk - but wants one that really counts

Tom Taiwo hit a landmark 100 league appearances for Falkirk on Saturday '“ but he wishes there was a winning achievement among them.
Tom Taiwo scored against Rangers at Ibrox. Falkirk return to Edmiston Drive on Sunday. Picture Michael Gillen.Tom Taiwo scored against Rangers at Ibrox. Falkirk return to Edmiston Drive on Sunday. Picture Michael Gillen.
Tom Taiwo scored against Rangers at Ibrox. Falkirk return to Edmiston Drive on Sunday. Picture Michael Gillen.

The midfielder’s arrival four years ago co-incided with a spell of post-season involvement for Falkirk, be that in promotion play-offs or the Scottish Cup final in 2015. Each time though the Bairns haven’t quite got over the line.

Taiwo though still has eyes on going down in the history books with Falkirk and having his spell count for something.

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“We’ve been so close but never quite got over the line. We want to achieve something really positive.

“Finishing second and getting to the cup final and playoff final is great, really positive but it’s not winning something. It’s not going to write you down in the history books so that is my aim for the club no matter how long I am here.

“I really want to win something and be a part of something and have people look back at my time at Falkirk and say ‘Yeah Tom Taiwo, he was a good player, more than 100 league games but he actually did something too’.”

The William Hill Scottish Cup is still an option with the Bairns in the uarter finals this weekend. They head to Ibrox on Sunday to face Rangers, a venue where Taiwo almost went down in club folklore... but again not quite.

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He scored one of his five Bairns goals on Saturday, April 25 when Falkirk led 2-0 but were levelled by two goals from the home side in the last seven minutes (plus a few more), denying them their first league win at Ibrox in almost nine decades.

“We have been so close at Ibrox in the past. We have almost won there, and if I remember rightly we were also outdone by a free-kick that shouldn’t have been too.

“Another performance like those is what we need. We just need to go and have a really good postive performance there. The manager has said to us already, – there’s no point just going there and sitting in to try and nick a 0-0, no-one wants that.

“I look back to a midweek game at The Falkirk Stadium and we were 2-0 down at half-time and we were off the pace, and weren’t in their faces. But in the second half it was like the shackles came off and we played the football we know we can play. We went up against them, positive and full of energy and ended up winning 3-2.

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“We know we can do it, we’ve done it in the past and need to replicate it on Sunday.

“We’re a confident team, especially in the first half on Saturday when it looked like it could have been 4-0 or 5-0. If we go and play in that vein Rangers will be wary. They’re of course a good team but we have threats in our teams as well and they will know that.

“So long as we keep the back door shut for as long as possible we’ll still be in the game.”

For Taiwo, who is the current leader in The Falkirk Herald Starshot trophy, it would mean a lot, and maybe just put his name in the club history books.

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He’s still loving life at Falkirk, 
after a total of 134 games since signing in 2014.

“It sounds cheesy but it’s an honour to play 100 league games for a club where you feel so welcome, and you feel people appreciate what you do – I’ve not always enjoyed that feeling in the past at previous clubs, and to play somewhere where you are wanted and you feel you are appreciated is something that not many players will get to feel in their career.”