Falkirk 2
Alston (25)
Sammon (45+1)
Peterhead 1
Cameron (77)
Peterhead again produced a ‘Night and Day’ performance as they went down 2-1 at Falkirk however a solid second half performance was not enough to repair the damage caused by a listless first 45 minutes.
Manager Jim McInally made two changes with Gary MacKenzie coming in for only his second start in the league and Alan Cook replacing Ben Armour who did not make the bench after pulling out on Friday night due to a hamstring problem.
The hosts had the first opening on 7 minutes when a break down the right created a chance for Connor Sammon however Joshua Rae was equal to it. A minute later Steven Boyd had a glimpse of goal for Peterhead however he chipped his effort wide.
On 18 minutes Anton Dowds burst clear of the visiting defence however Rae came out on top in their one to one confrontation by parrying his shot.
MacKenzie sent a header over the Falkirk bar and the Bairns made the most of that reprieve by opening the scoring on 25 minutes when Blair Alston converted a Charlie Telfer pass from 17 yards.
The Blue Toon looked to hit back and Boyd was on target when he cracked a half-volley towards the home goal however PJ Morrison made a fine block.
In first half injury time Falkirk moved two ahead with Telfer again the architect as he picked out Sammon with a pass and the striker slotted past Rae.
McInally had stern words with his side at the interval and just three minutes into the restart Alan Cook flicked Gary Fraser’s free-kick over.
On 55 minutes Cook should have brought Peterhead back into the game after he was picked out by Ryan Conroy who had twisted his way through the Falkirk defence to pick out his team-mate three yards from goal however Cook fired wide.
Boyd sent an opening wide before Falkirk almost picked Peterhead off from a breakaway with Dowds sending a header against the bar.
Lyall Cameron marked his introduction to the game quickly by cracking home a shot following a corner.
The goal triggered nerves in the league leaders and those nerves increased further when on-loan Dundee youngster Cameron had another glimpse of goal only for his shot to be blocked.
Jason Brown was sent forward in the closing stages as Peterhead searched for an equaliser and the move almost worked however the defender sent an injury time shot over Falkirk’s bar.
Jim said: “The second half was the standard I was expecting. The first half was not.”
Peterhead – Rae, Freeman, MacKenzie (Lyle 70) J Brown, Bailey, Conroy, Fraser, S Brown, McCarthy (Cameron 74), Boyd, Cook
Unused substitutes – Wilson, Kesson, Bakar
