Home and Away: Falkirk to shrug off crushing cup loss

16Apr 2013

Betfair

After posting a profit on his Home and Away debut, Christian Crowther casts the net from the Scottish First Division...

Falkirk v Dumbarton

Throwing away a three-goal lead in their Scottish Cup semi-final against Hibernian on Saturday is sure to prove more than a little irksome to the Falkirk faithful, but what better way to move on than securing three points in the league?

While Falkirk's stay in Scotland's second tier is poised to drag into a fourth successive season, at least their fans are being treated to a late flourish.

Four straight wins in the Scottish First Division have seen the Bairns jump from fifth to third, leapfrogging Livingston in the process. More impressively still, the Falkirk defence has only been breached once in that run of victories.

Their visitors Dumbarton have endured a torrid campaign to date, spending the first half of the season glued to the foot of the table. Despite a commendable resurgence, which had briefly lifted them away from danger, three successive losses heading into this one have cranked up Dumbarton's anxiety levels once more.

The visitors will cling on to the fact they won a thrilling encounter 4-3 at the Falkirk Stadium earlier in the campaign, but two convincing 2-0 triumphs for Falkirk in their other 2012/13 meetings tell a different story.

Bet 1: Falkirk (HOME) @ 1.79

Oldham v Yeovil

Back to good old England now and two teams with very contrasting ambitions towards the business end of this season.

Yeovil flirted with the prospect of promotion to the Championship via the play-offs a few years ago and this campaign the Glovers are even tantalisingly close to those coveted automatic places.

If they can secure victory in their game in hand at Boundary Park, then they'll close the gap to just two points on West Country rivals Bournemouth, currently placed in second.

Contrastingly, strugglers Oldham's only target at this juncture is to cling on to their third-tier status after a topsy-turvy campaign in which an FA Cup run masked deeper rot in the north west.

Despite scraping a 1-0 win that relegated rock bottom Bury on Saturday, the Latics are in big trouble after claiming just five points from the previous 24 available, leaving them teetering two points above safety.

Yeovil will be bristling with confidence as they make the long trip north, fresh from a three-game winning streak in which they've bagged two goals per game and leaked just two.

The 4-1 hammering they doled out at Huish Park as jingle bells filled the airwaves suggests Oldham are in for a tough night.

Bet 2: Yeovil (AWAY) @ 3.05