Neil can take tip from the master

Ken Gallacher's verdict

6 Apr 1998

Losing semi-finalists always find it difficult to come to terms with the reality of their defeat and when Falkirk had to do so at Ibrox on Saturday it was all too much for them.

It was even a little too much for the neutrals who were there because the first division team, whose very future is in doubt, deserved at least a replay after their brave display against Hearts only to see that chance snatched from them in the closing minutes.

Even Hearts manager Jim Jefferies, who left Brockville to take over at Tynecastle, declared admiringly afterwards: ''I thought Falkirk played extremely well today and Kevin McAllister had an exceptional match and scored a magnificent goal.

He deserved to be named man of the match.

'' Most would agree with that, although the match-winning conbtribution from Hearts' Neil McCann tended to be overlooked as the sympathy for Falkirk swept around the stadium.

The winger, one of the last of that breed of moody entertainers, made the Hearts' second goal with a glorious run forward from the halfway line and then added the third with a solo goal which simply added to the heartbreak of the opposition.

It is when McCann produces matchless moments such as these that the cries rise from the Tynecastle faithful that he should be selected for Scotland's World Cup squad.

However, there remain these lengthy periods in between the flickering moments of greatness, when McCann's contribution to the team effort is not enough, when he fails to impose himself on the opposition.

I am an admirer of the player.

It still thrills me to see an old-fashioned winger ready to take on players and to get the ball across goal - or even to score himself.

McCann's problem is that he does not do so often enough and that is why Scotland manager Craig Brown, who watched the semi-final, remains unconvinced.

If McCann had put in the same amount of effort as McAllister did over the 90 minutes then he would have had the award, Hearts might have tied up the game earlier, and Brown would have had something to think about.

None of these things happened, however, and so McCann was left to receive the plaudits of his own fans for a victory he gave them with a minute or two of magic as the game moved towards its end.

That was enough to take Hearts to the final and leave Falkirk to contemplate a future where promotion is beyond them and even survival remains a problem.

Manager Alex Totten was entitled to his claim that his team more than matched Hearts over the 90 minutes.

He insisted: ''Falkirk were by far the better side, and you have to remember that we were playing against a team which might yet win the premier division title.

Kevin McAllister typified the attitude of the players.

He is a Falkirk lad through and through and he gave everything for this club today.

'' Ultimately, it was not enough and Hearts will be in the final next month.

As Jefferies pointed out: ''We do have to get some credit from this.

In these closing minutes, when it looked as if the game had swung Falkirk's way after McAllister's goal, we dug in and we were the team who won.

We showed that we were not ready to give up and I think that has to be remembered.

'' It does, of course, and it will be when his team take the field in the final while the Falkirk players, no matter how brave, may yet be facing the dole.

Taken from the Herald