Dundee suffered their first defeat of the season at Falkirk, bowing out of the Ramsdens Cup in the process.
The Dark Blues had boasted a perfect record, having seen off Arbroath, Dumbarton and Partick Thistle, but the Bairns fully deserved the victory given to them by Farid El Allagui’s 42nd-minute goal, and it is their name that goes into the quarter-final draw.
Falkirk just had more of a cutting edge to their play than a Dens side without injured strike duo Graham Bayne and Steven Milne, a point conceded by boss Barry Smith.
“On the night we played decent football but we just lacked a bit of an end product,” said Smith. “We kept the ball well and worked hard and I don’t think there was much between the teams.
“But they scored, we didn’t and that means they deserved their victory. We were asking a lot of our young players tonight and we missed the experience of Graham and Steven. Hopefully, they will be back soon.”
Falkirk manager Steven Pressley was satisfied with how his team played. “I am exceptionally proud of that performance,” he said. “For a team so young to give a performance like that was great.”
The first chance fell to 16-year-old Bairn Craig Sibbald on two minutes but his shot from the edge of the box was deflected away. The hosts should have been ahead on 13 minutes when full-back Kieran Duffie swung a cross over from the right and midfielder Jay Fulton, despite being unmarked and right in front of goal, seemed to freeze when he only had to stick a leg out to score.
Dundee had a go on 18 minutes but Nicky Riley’s cross from the right just skimmed the top of Jake Hyde’s head. Stephen O’Donnell then tried his luck with a header from around the penalty spot that struck team-mate Jamie McCluskey and flew past the post.
Hyde found space inside the box on 36 minutes but his shot was blocked by former Dundee United defender Darren Dods. Falkirk then took a deserved lead three minutes before the break. Duffie played a great pass forward that sent Sibbald clear. The youngster had beaten the offside trap and raced goalwards before cutting the ball back to El-Allagui, who tapped in from six yards.
After the interval, Kallum Higginbotham played in Mark Millar as Falkirk pressed again, and it needed a great save from Rab Douglas to push his 25-yard strike over the bar. The home side were on top and they came close again on 62 minutes when defender Rhys Bennett cut back to Higginbotham 12 yards out and his shot stung Douglas’ hands.
O’Donnell had a well-struck attempt saved by Michael McGovern on 73 minutes before Dundee made a double switch in a bid to stir things up, bringing on Leighton McIntosh and Connor Rennie for Neil McGregor and Ryan Conroy.
Matt Lockwood tried his best to get them level, whipping in a free-kick that had to be pushed over the bar by McGovern, then Douglas did well to hold Higginbotham’s effort. There was still time for El-Allagui to squander a glorious chance as he blasted the ball high over the bar.