Falkirk 0 - 2 Hamilton Academical: Hamilton’s revenge

MANAGERLESS Falkirk were left numbed by the biting chill as Hamilton exacted revenge for their Scottish Cup defeat with a comprehensive victory.

Scorers: Hamilton Academical: Routledge (15), Longridge (26)

Just three weeks after the Bairns booked a semi-final place at Hampden, first-half goals from Jon Routledge and Louis Longridge gave Accies their first win over Falkirk this season in front of only 82 travelling supporters. “We had a point to prove, we were really disappointed with the cup result,” said Hamilton manager Billy Reid.

Falkirk could barely string two passes together during the early exchanges and it was no surprise that Hamilton stormed ahead after 15 minutes. Stevie May’s corner caused panic before Martin Canning teed-up Routledge for the midfielder to place a cool finish into the corner of the net past a ruck of players from 12 yards.

Falkirk keeper Graham Bowman was looking to impress on a rare first-team outing, with Michael McGovern away on Northern Ireland duty. But a poor clearance landed at the feet of Longridge, who struck a low left-footed shot beyond the crestfallen shot-stopper in the 26th minute.

Interim Falkirk manager Alex Smith said: “We threatened really early in the game with a break and it looked liked we were up for it, but that was the end of it.”