Hughes lambasts Bairns for lack of concentration

THE importance of a team maintaining its concentration in the immediate aftermath of taking the lead was cruelly hammered home to the Falkirk players at Love Street on Saturday.

Graham Barrett's 47th minute opener for the Bairns was cancelled out almost immediately by St Mirren's Billy Mehmet, who equalised from the spot for the Paisley side while the visiting fans were still celebrating Barrett's strike.

"We need to be more resolute and solid in these situations," said Falkirk manager John Hughes.

"It's fundamental that you maintain your concentration after scoring as that's when you can be at your most vulnerable. We gave away a soft free kick and that's what led to the penalty. Its very frustrating."

Having claimed their first points of the season in last weekend's victory over Hearts, Falkirk were looking to use that result as a springboard for their advancement in the SPL table but Saturday's draw, allied to results elsewhere, has left the Bairns anchored once again at the foot of the top flight.

"I think a draw was probably a fair result," continued Yogi, "although we did have some good chances to win.

"The attitude and commitment of the players was fine but they can play a lot better than that. The passing wasn't as crisp as normal and a lot of the fundamentals – tackling, heading, passing – weren't as good as they should be.

"I felt the introduction of Steve Lovell midway through the second half gave us a lift and maybe Steve's ready to get off the bench now and into the starting eleven. We've worked on his fitness since he arrived at the club and I'm sure he's going to score a lot of goals for us."

After an evenly-contested first half, Falkirk opened the scoring shortly after the interval when Barrett headed home a precise cross from the rejuvenated Neil McCann. But the Bairns' lead lasted little more than two minutes , Mehmet driving home for the spot after Kevin McBride handled a cross from Saints' Steven Robb.