Falkirk midfielder Mark Millar says he is “feeling sharp” after his brace helped fire Gary Holt’s team to a 4-0 victory over Scottish Championship strugglers Cowdenbeath on Saturday.
The win didn’t always look assured, though, with the Blue Brazil hitting the crossbar twice in the opening period.
Cowdenbeath left-back Kenny Adamson cracked a free-kick off the joint of the Falkirk goal early on, before Kane Hemmings was denied his seventh goal of the season only by the quick reactions of Michael McGovern, who tipped the striker’s effort on to the crossbar.
“I thought in the first half we tried to force it too much, trying the longer ball too much and it wasn’t really working for us,” said Millar, who re-signed for Falkirk on loan from Dundee United last month after a season away from the club.
“I thought when we kept the ball it was creating a bit of space for us to then go and get chances.
“Phil Roberts had a chance when he cut inside and shot in the first half but, as the manager said at half-time, the key was patience. He told us to up the tempo as well and I think it worked wonders for us in the second half.”
Indeed, the Bairns started the second period firing on all cylinders. Just six minutes had gone when Millar made it 1-0 to the hosts.
Jay Fulton cut the ball back and Millar struck first time past Grant Adam for his first in his second spell at Falkirk Stadium.
From there, Cowden’s heads seemed to go down, and soon after it was 2-0.
Craig Sibbald charged down the left-hand side before squaring the ball to Phil Roberts. His effort cannoned off John Armstrong and Loy was on hand to crash home his ninth goal of the season.
Millar added a second with six minutes left on the clock, doing well to make space for himself inside the box before firing low into the far corner. The former Bairns man is clearly enjoying life back at Falkirk that’s him now up to 13 goals overall for the club.
“That is good, though it’s good just to get games to be honest. I’m taking free-kicks as well but there weren’t too many chances with those today. It was good to get a couple of goals either way. I’m feeling sharp.”
Scott Shepherd replaced Loy in the dying embers and had been on the pitch less than a minute when he added gloss to the scoreline. Again Cowdenbeath’s defence were posted missing and Shepherd found space inside the area to fire home unmarked to make it 4-0.
“It’s a timely victory,” concluded Millar and, with Falkirk having climbed to third overnight, and Rangers lying in wait in the Scottish Cup, it is hard to disagree.
Cowdenbeath, meanwhile, remain just two points better off than bottom side Morton and will have to go back to the drawing board ahead of next week’s visit of Livingston.
l Falkirk have been handed a massive boost after Dundee United gave them permission to field on-loan midfielder Millar in this weekend’s Scottish Cup clash with Rangers.
Millar was the match-winner the last time the Bairns defeated Rangers on cup duty.
On that occasion, the former Celtic youngster curled in a dramatic, last-minute free-kick to earn Steven Pressley’s outfit a shock 3-2 triumph over the then Premier League side in the League Cup in September 2011.
The 25-year-old said: “The manager told me I’m available to play, so I’m looking forward to it. The manager spoke to the United manager, so both parties have agreed and it’s a goer.
“I would have hated to have missed it. You want to play in the big games and this is definitely a big game. We know what happened the last time I played here, so hopefully it can be another victory for us.”