Two points make a trend : Caley v. Falkirk Preview

This is a busy week in the SPL, with a midweek fixture between two full weekends. For the Caley, it’s a chance for redemption, a chance to take a side that was just a few days ago one point from the drop spot, and rise into the middle third of the table. The away win at Hibs was a great one, and not nearly as close as the 2-1 scoreline would have you believe. We owned that match, more than we’ve owned a match since the opening day at Pittodrie.

Now, instead of 11th place and a point from relegation, we’re 9th place, with Falkirk, St. Mirren and Hamilton below us. There are just three points separating us from 6th place Kilmarnock. We have the chance with this match to prove it wasn’t just a one-off, that we can do more than get the occasional result. We can take the positives from Saturday and convert them into a real trend upward.

Unfortunately, a return home to Inverness is not exactly a recipe for success for this Caley team. Nine of our thirteen league points have come on the road, and based on road records alone, we are the fourth best team in the league, behind the Old Firm and just behind the Dons. We’ve stopped the rot – we’ve stopped the losing streak. Now, we need to prove we can do something at home.

Falkirk is an odd, odd team this season. They have proven goalscorers, like Michael Higdon and Steve Lovell. They haven’t lost in three SPL matches … but they’re still sitting in 10th place, on 12 points from as many matches. As soon as they hit their stride, as they did beating until-recently-high-flying Killie, they hit a snag, gifting Hamilton their first point in seven matches.

This will be our third meeting with Falkirk this season. The first, on the road, was a great comeback win for us, 2-1. The second was, of course, less positive, a 1-0 CIS cup quarterfinal defeat. But at home, we have traditionally done well against the Bairns, with 3 wins and a draw from six SPL meetings. As if the feeling of Saturday’s win wasn’t enough motivation for us, this match can also decide the leader in our all-time SPL series with Falkirk, which stands right now at 6-1-6 in 13 matches.

It’s hard to call this one, because we have seen so many different teams take the pitch both for Caley and for the Bairns. The safe pick for such an unpredictable match would be 1-1 draw, but that’s a tired pick. I’ll go 1-0 to the Caley, with Ryan Esson picking up a much-deserved clean sheet. Mon the Caley.

Category: Match Preview

Tags: Falkirk, Home, Match Preview, SPL

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