Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe praised his side’s ruthless streak as they took a major step towards the Championship play-off final with a 6-2 hammering of Falkirk.
McCabe himself scored a late penalty to end a Falkirk comeback in a game when both sides saw red – with Airdrie keeper Josh Rae sent off – and the Diamonds were 5-0 up at half-time.
That’s not surprising for League One’s top scorers, but it leaves John McGlynn’s side with a four-goal deficit to make up at the Falkirk Stadium on Saturday.
McCabe told the club’s website: “We carried out the game plan to an absolute tee, each individual took the instruction on board, in terms of all the stuff we’d worked on leading up to the game.
“We knew if we did that there were going to be opportunities there, we’ve got too many good players going forward, and in forward areas not to create chances.
“It was just about can we be a little bit more clinical, and I think if you look at the Edinburgh result there on Saturday we looked a wee bit more back to our best, in terms of that ruthless side.
“When the ball falls around the box, you put it away. It was a display for the forward line and clinical-ness, if that’s a word!
“They were really ruthless.”
Airdrie opened the scoring in eight minutes through Justin Devenny, and doubled their lead five minutes later when McCabe curled a free kick in from the edge of the box.
Callum Smith smashed a shot past Brian Kinnear in 16 minutes, and Aaron Taylor-Sinclair headed into the net just after the half-hour mark.
Airdrie bagged their fifth in 41 minutes when captain and assistant boss Callum Fordyce forced the ball over the line.
Falkirk pulled a goal back in 61 minutes through Coll Donaldson, and four minutes later Rae was red carded for a trip on Rumarn Burrell, and Kai Kennedy’s deflected free kick beat sub keeper David Hutton, reducing the gap to 5-2.
But Jordan Allan was sent off for a high challenge on Hutton and former Diamond Leon McCann conceded a penalty, which McCabe rattled into the net.
McCabe added: “Everyone to a man, even the defence, we dealt with their shape and looked comfortable. That was very pleasing.
“It’s great when you come in with such a comfortable lead at half-time, but we always knew that Falkirk are a good side and you’ve got to respect that.
“They were always going to have a moment or a period in the game where they were going to come back out– you don’t dominate for 90 minutes, or very rarely you do.
“We knew they would have to change something, whether that be personnel or system, and they would try and leave themselves a wee bit gung-ho, trying to get a goal or two back into the tie.
“Then it was about us trying to sustain that pressure and be clever on the counter with that wee bit of quality.”
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