Falkirk
visit Fir Park on Sunday as Motherwell look to beat the Bairns
Despite the
wonderful season the Steelmen enjoyed under the leadership of Jans Berthel
Askou there remained a niggling irritation that Falkirk were unbeaten. Three
defeats and a draw against John McGlynn’s newly promoted team seemed like an
anomaly but a chance to update the record comes on Sunday.
At the
start of the new season both sides look very different from the meeting in
May. Falkirk retain the same manager but
they lost many of the bright lights that led to their sixth place finish. Gone are Ben Broggio, Henry Cartwright, Brian
Graham, Filip Lissah, Calvin Miller, Barney Stewart, Dylan Tait and Kyrell
Wilson. Some well kent faces joined the ranks (Craig Sibbald, Ryan Strain and Scott Tanser) but few expect Falkirk to better
last season’s achievement.
They failed
for progress from the League Cup group stage with only two wins from their four
ties with lower league opposition and then lost the opening game of the season at
home to St Mirren (0-2). The omens don’t
look good.
Motherwell
have, so far, made a successful summer transition. A new manager, seven additions and a few
promotions from the youth ranks together with a core of ‘old hands’ have come
together and carried on with business as usual. Three points at Easter Road and decent results
in the Conference League have the ‘Well in good spirits.
If they can
overcome the tight turnaround following late night travel from Helsinki they
must be favourites to kill the ghost of Falkirk past and march on with a 2-0
win.
