Match Preview: Falkirk (Away)

Falkirk V  Raith Rovers   Saturday 7th December 2013   The Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk  Kick off: 3.00pm

Admission Prices

Adult – £18

Concession – £12*

Under 18 – £6

Under 12 – Free of charge

* (Over 65/Full time Student/Unemployed/Ambulant disabled – with valid ID)

Match Preview:

Raith Rovers are on their travels again this weekend, this time to the Falkirk Stadium, in a top-of-the-table clash with Gary Holt’s Falkirk side.

Fourth placed Falkirk bowed out of the Scottish Cup last weekend, after a 2-0 home defeat to Rangers, but they’ve shown good recent league form recently, taking seven points from their last three games, a sequence that saw them score nine times.

Falkirk’s home record is particularly strong, with five wins from their seven fixtures, while the eighteen goals they’ve scored at their own stadium, is the most in the Championship.

Raith are another side that are in form, with seven wins from their last ten league and cup matches. Unlike Falkirk however, they made it through to the Fifth Round of the Scottish Cup, thanks to their excellent 1-0 win over Dundee last weekend, a result that extended their impressive cup record against the Dens Park club.

Victory for Falkirk would see them leapfrog Raith into third place in the table on goal-difference, but Raith have a formidable recent league record against Falkirk, with four wins and just two defeats from their last ten meetings. The three most recent league encounters between the pair have each ended all-square.

What The Manager Said:

Getting through to the Fifth Round draw of the Scottish Cup, whilst at the same time, ending Dundee’s unbeaten home record an impressive achievement for Grant Murray’s men last weekend, and it’s one that he feels they can take a great deal of confidence from,

“Dundee is always a hard game, but especially so at Dens Park. On top of that, they’d just defeated Hamilton Accies 3-0 the week before, so it was a big ask for us to go there and win. It can sometimes be difficult when you’re drawn to play a side that’s in the same league as yourselves, but I thought our all-round performance was fantastic. Getting the first goal was key, but afterwards, I thought we were really impressive, and were good enough to see the game out.”

“Dundee hadn’t lost a game at home this season, so we should take huge belief from the fact that we’re the first team to go there and leave with a victory. However, as much as we enjoyed last week, we need to settle back down again, and get our minds back on league business, starting this weekend.”

The draw for the next round may not have provided Rovers with a tie at Stark’s Park, but the pairing with Hibs at Easter Road, seem to have whetted the appetite of the Raith support,

“You’re always asked who you’d like to play when a cup draw comes around, and the only answer you can really give, is that ideally you’d like to be given a home tie. Obviously on this occasion, we’re the away side, but it’s an exciting tie, and a difficult one, against a Hibs team that have just brought in a great manager in Terry Butcher, who’ll be looking to enjoy a great season with his new side. The game isn’t until February, but it’s one we can look forward to.”

The focus returns to the Championship this weekend however, and it’s another away fixture, this time at the Falkirk Stadium, a game that Murray expects to be another difficult one,

“Falkirk demonstrated just how good a side they are last week, when they pushed Rangers all the way in the Scottish Cup. I thought they were unlucky to go out on the day, and they’ll be looking to bounce back against us.”

“We’ve done reasonably well against them recently, however, I never think past records account for too much, so we shouldn’t read too much into that. We’ve achieved some great results away from home this season though, albeit we lost at Alloa and Dundee, but we’ve put in some really good performances on our travels, and hopefully that’ll continue this weekend.”

Overall Head-to-Head League Record at Falkirk:

Falkirk wins: 40 | Raith Rovers wins: 17 | Draws: 14

Falkirk goals: 133 | Raith Rovers goals: 82

Top Goalscorers in All Competitions:

Falkirk: Rory Loy 10, Philip Roberts 6, Jay Fulton 3

Raith Rovers: Calum Elliot 9, Greig Spence 7, Joe Cardle 5

Match Odds:

Falkirk: 6/5 | Raith Rovers: 2/1 | Draw: 13/5

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