Muir praises derby heroes after Ochilview victory

Anna Goorevich opened the scoring for the Bairns in the first half direct from a corner, only for the Warriors to level moments later through veteran striker Suzanne Wyatt levelled on 27 minutes.

The US student doubled her tally with a free kick just before the break to make it 2-1 in a ding-dong affair in horrible conditions.

In the second half Claire Taylor scored for the Falkirk, rounding the goalkeeper on 56 minutes, and despite an excellent header from Wyatt on 70 minutes, the points stayed with the Bairns.

Muir said, speaking to the Herald: “They’d only lost one in the last seven, and that was against Rangers and let’s be honest they are beating everyone this season so there was no disgrace in that.

“They are one of the in-form teams in the league and they have been scoring goals.

“First and foremost, it was a big result for us because we needed the three points.

“We want to climb the table.

“The game did have that edge to it and we stood up to that.

“We took the game as another league game, they all have equal importance especially with the split coming up.”

Despite being on the back foot for long periods of the match against an in-form Stenny side, he was content with the style of football that helped pick up the three points – moving them level on points in the table with Allan Milne’s side.

“Over the course of the season we have arguably been better and a wee bit more switched on in games when we’ve, if you like, not been expected to do as well or when the pressure has been off,” he explained.

“Against the more in your face teams we’ve done better than some matches over the year.

“We had to soak up real pressure in the second half after an even first half.

“Up until we got the third goal it could have gone either way but we defended so well as a team.

“When they got one back you always expect a nervy end but the girls stood up tall and dug in.”

He added: “I’m so proud of the effort and attitude.”

Second-placed Gartcairn are up for next for Falkirk at home on Sunday and the coach is hoping to continue the sides decent form against the top teams in the league.

He said: “They’ve got games in hand over Edinburgh City at the top and they will be looking to win the league.

“They are up there on merit because they are a very good side.

“We’ll approach the match like every other match.

“Our game plan is clear.”

Stenhousemuir head coach Allan Milne was disappointed with the result, but not his side’s performance.

"We played very well, we used the ball well but the goals we conceded poor goals,” he said.

"The three goals they scored were poor from our point of view.

"It’s time to refocus now because our recent return has been great.

"We’ll have a chat about the goals at training but it hard to be too critical.”

He added: “Falkirk didn’t have anywhere near as many chances as us, but we didn’t take all of ours and that was the difference.

"The players will learn from the game today and I have no doubt we will go into the Morton match confident.”

The Warriors next face Morton away from home.