25 mins
KILMARNOCK'S place in the Tommy Burns story has inevitably been overlooked, but the supporters of the Ayrshire club have never forgotten his huge contribution to their cause and yesterday they showed their appreciation.
During his three years as a player and then
player-manager at Rugby Park before Fergus McCann
whisked him away to Parkhead in 1994, he not only
took Killie into the Premier Division but, against
all the odds, kept them there.
Along
one wall of the main stand sat a moving tribute to
the great man, Killie's supporters leaving a wealth
of flowers, scarves, tops and tributes. There was a
minute's respectful clapping to mark Burns's
passing, but his legacy demanded more and when the
home side strung together their first decent passage
of play, it was his name that the crowd sang.
.
But the reception was more muted from the home fans for the son of another Celtic legend as the game got underway.
Dalglish was picked out by David Fernandez, but the former Hibs striker blasted over from 12 yards with only goalkeeper Robert Olejnik to beat.
And, a minute later, the Bairns made the home side pay for that miss when Moutinho picked up the ball 25 yards from goal, turned and drilled a low shot past flailing goalkeeper Alan Combe.
Fernandez set up Danny Invincibile, but the powerful drive from the forward making his return from illness went just wide of the post.
A Dalglish corner from the left caused panic in the Bairns box, the ball bouncing around before Chris Mitchell cleared off the line.
And
the home side eventually drew level after 24
minutes, Jamie Fowler crossing for Mahdi
Taouil, whose deflected shot from the edge
of the box fooled Olejnik.
The goalkeeper tried in vain to block the ball with his legs only to see it squirm over the line.
Dalglish again squandered a fine chance, heading weakly off target from eight yards following a wonderful cross from the impressive Fernandez.
Olejnik was forced into a decent save from Grant Murray's 16-yard drive.
Falkirk had a chance to steal the lead just before the break when defender Simon Ford had to retrieve his own mistake by blocking a goalbound shot from Bairns wide-man Carl Finnigan.
Kilmarnock
were again the more dangerous after the break,
Fowler firing wide after a powerful, 40-yard run.
Taouil set up Dalglish, but the striker again
fired high and wide.
Invincibile was next to be wasteful, heading over from three yards from a Grant Murray cross.
The Australian was denied by a fine block from Olejnik after being one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
It looked like Falkirk would escape with a point,
but super-sub Paul Di Giacomo headed
in off the post following a Garry Hay cross with 10
minutes remaining.
This was Jacko's 2nd goal in successive weeks coming
off the bench, which should certainly improve his
contract discussions with Killie boss Jim Jefferries.
Well, while Jefferies has been
without several key personnel
throughout an injury-hit
campaign, the absences of
Fernandez and Taouil in the
early part of it left Killie
floundering in a relegation
battle.
Spaniard Fernandez (right) was unavailable for the first six months as he completed his rehabilitation from a fourth knee operation while Moroccan Taouil didn't arrive on loan until just before Christmas.
But the talented duo proved against Falkirk just how important they are to the Kilmarnock cause and also offered the club's supporters genuine grounds for optimism ahead of next season.
If Jefferies can persuade Taouil to extend his stay and keep Fernandez fully fit then there is no reason why his team shouldn't be back in the reckoning for a place in the top half-dozen.
On the evidence of Saturday, seventh-placed Falkirk, who finished nine points ahead of Killie, certainly didn't look the team that was knocking on the door of the SPL elite.
The home side fashioned enough chances to win half-a-dozen games, much to the disgust of Bairns boss John Hughes who fired a furious broadside at his under-performing players in the post-match press conference.
Sandy's Match Pic's are HERE
