Falkirk 2-0 Alloa Athletic

Falkirk's poise and command delivered a straightforward victory that lifted them above Hibernian into second place in the Championship.

They controlled the game from the outset against Alloa Athletic, and opened the scoring when Paul Watson headed Blair Alston's corner home.

A flowing four-man move started by goalkeeper Danny Rogers and finished by Mark Kerr brought the second goal.

Alloa had keeper Scott Gallacher to thank for keeping the scoreline down.

Falkirk performed like a team full of belief and the kind of easy aplomb that came from being within reach of their goal. They are all but assured of their place in the promotion play-offs and so are not inhibited by tension.

The home side's play occasionally lacked the kind of tempo that would have left Alloa's defenders reeling, but they were always capable of turning up the pace if required. Instead, they took control of the scoreline and then maintained their hold on the game.

Gallacher twice had to race from his line to prevent Falkirk from scoring, but he alone could not deny the inevitable.

There was misfortune for him, though, since he was still winded from a previous block when Alston delivered a corner and stayed on his line as Watson rose to convert.

The visitors had won only one of their previous nine games and remain stuck at the bottom of the Championship.

They did not set out to stifle the home side but the occasional attack only created further opportunities for Falkirk. When Rogers gathered the ball inside his own area, he was urged to kick upfield to start another attack.

Bob McHugh followed the ball and won it through sheer strength and willpower before slipping it crossfield for Alston. He immediately turned it back inside to Kerr, whose first-time shot flew past Gallacher.

The goal was sweetly executed and reward for the best of Falkirk's qualities.

Alloa grimly held on to their commitment, but it seemed telling of their fate that when a Falkirk defender's tackle inadvertently sent the ball through to Mitch Megginson, the striker hesitated before rounding Rogers and left himself too tight an angle to score, skewing the ball instead into the side-netting.

The second half was more pedestrian, since the outcome was not in any doubt. McHugh, though, will feel he should have scored with a diving header from close range that went over.

Watson then came closer still, hitting the post with a header from another corner kick.

Further goals seemed inevitable but Gallacher remained in defiant form. He stopped a Craig Sibbald shot with his body, then blocked a Lee Miller header from close range. When the ball then spun goalwards, defender Jason Marr cleared off the line with an overhead kick.

In the end, Falkirk were kept to two goals but it was enough in an assured and impressive display.