Falkirk hustled and harried by Airdrie as unbeaten record is vanquished
The rescheduled fixture, deferred by a day and played in daylight because of floodlight problems at Falkirk Stadium, was a well-matched encounter, with the Bairns looking to extend their lead in League One to seven points.
They looked marginally the more dangerous of the two and projected a growing air of menace with the chances they created.
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Hide AdBut the Diamonds stayed with them and made a few opportunities for themselves – including the sole venture which did get over the line.
Falkirk had thrown four substitutes on – including joint boss Lee Miller – in the space of eight second-half minutes, which appeared to illustrate their ache to score the first goal.
This game unspooled in the manner of one where the opening counter would almost certainly be crucial.
But, after a spell of Falkirk attacks, it was Airdrieonians who scored from a set piece, which added to Falkirk’s mounting frustration.
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Hide AdCo-manager David McCracken said afterwards: “The quality at times was not just quite there and not just quite as quick or as slick as it's been, so we go and work on it again.
"Airdrie made it hard for us. They broke up our play and killed our momentum. It was one of those games where we had limited opportunities and we never took them.”
Falkirk almost found the way through after 18 minutes as Conor Sammon darted forward and crossed from the right but Aidan Connolly couldn't connect properly with a great scoring chance and Christie gathered.
Another fine chance went astray for Falkirk on 20 minutes as Sammon collected a lovely cross-field pass but his shot was cleared off the line by Callum Fordyce. Airdrie's defence survived another effort by Robbie Letch soon afterwards.
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Hide AdHaving survived a mini-onslaught from Falkirk, the visitors got the ball into the Bairns' box on 24 minutes but Robert fired a good effort into the side netting.
A notable feature of the second half was a rapid pair of twin substitutions by the home side. On the hour, Callumn Morrison came on for Robbie Leitch, while Charlie Telfer mades way for Blair Alston. After 68 minutes, co-manager Lee Miller opted to bring himself on, in favour of Anton Dowds, while Connor Sammon was replaced by Akeel Francis.
However, in between, Falkirk suffered a fright when Airdrie substitute Carrick was put through in the box but his powerful, rising angled shot was very well saved by Mutch.
Miller did well to direct a glancing header which went just wide in another Falkirk attack – but then Falkirk’s tactical plan to win the game deserted them as Airdrie scored.
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Hide AdAirdrie had a few players in the Falkirk box to sniff out opportunities as a free kick was sent in, and their presence paid off. Paul McKay delivered a header which was superbly blocked by Mutch but the rebound was knocked home from close range by Kyle Connell.
Falkirk remained calm and attacked fairly consistently after that but Ian Campbell’s men defended fairly robustly and became the first side in the league this season to get the better of the Bairns.