Falkirk Release Statement Apologising After Away Fans Infiltrate Home End

Falkirk have issued a statement apologising to their own supporters after sections of the home end housed Rangers fans in yesterday’s 6-3 defeat at The Falkirk Stadium. The two sides meet again on the final day of the season, with Falkirk already committing to more robust procedures in a contest that could see Rangers crowned champions. The club say they received numerous complaints of sectarian singing from those in the away end, and that one steward required medical attention, just weeks after a steward was allegedly attacked amidst the pitch invasion at Ibrox vs Celtic. The statement reads: “Following yesterday’s match, many Falkirk fans have contacted us about away fans obtaining tickets for the home end and the behaviour of these fans, which included a steward requiring medical attention. “We have also received complaints about sectarian singing from a large proportion of away fans. “Football is passionate, but none of this is acceptable. We condemn all of the aforementioned incidents. “We therefore apologise to our fans for the deeply unpleasant experience they were subjected to. “Falkirk FC will work with Police Scotland, stewarding partners, our colleagues at other clubs, the SPFL and SFA, and endeavour to improve the experience for our fans. “The club already had a robust plan in place for the final game of the season, with enhanced measures in place given the potential significance of the fixture. “We are now considering further the implications of yesterday’s incidents for future matches against Rangers, including security and ticketing arrangements, and will inform our fans once a decision has been taken.”

Hibs To Play Shamrock Rovers in Summer Friendly To Mark Club’s 150th Anniversary

Hibernian have announced a pre-season friendly away to Shamrock Rovers to commemorate the club’s 150th anniversary. The Edinburgh side also released a special edition hooped kit at the beginning of this season, to pay homage to their Irish heritage. They will swap the capital of Scotland for the capital of Ireland when they make the trip to Tallaght Stadium for the fixture on June 29th. And the Hibees will be hoping this is the first stamp of many on their passports as their fight fourth place with Motherwell ramps up. The club will also be operating a fanzone in the Temple Bar area of Dublin, with a first drink included in the price of a ticket. Hibs go into the split off the back of a 2-0 loss at Aberdeen, leaving them three points behind fourth placed Motherwell and five ahead of Falkirk. David Gray remains optimistic of leap-frogging the Steelmen in the tail end of the campaign. He spoke to Hibs TV after the loss: “Now we go into the split, and there’s no better fixture for the players and supporters to look forward to than a derby to try and get a reaction. “I’ve just reminded the players of that. We’ve got five games to go. We haven’t lost ground on Motherwell because of other results, but we do have a game less, so it makes it more difficult. “Do we feel it’s an opportunity missed? Yes, given how we came into the game. But we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We can still achieve what we set out to do. “It’s going to be tough, it will take five big performances, but I believe in the group and I believe we’re good enough to do it.” Hibs have this week off before kicking-off their split fixtures with the final Edinburgh derby of the season at Easter Road the following Sunday.

“We’ll help him and he’ll go again” – Danny Rohl on Mikey Moore’s knock

Following Danny Rohl’s pre-match press conference during the week, there was uncertainty that Mikey Moore would be available for Sunday’s trip to Falkirk. However, Moore was included in the starting lineup but was replaced by brace-goalscorer Bojan Miovski at half-time. Rangers were trailing by two goals to one at the interval. Yet came out in the second half with real intent, scoring five goals to keep their title hopes alive. And after a relatively slow start to life at Rangers under Russel Martin, Moore has shown his real qualities in recent times under the management of Head Coach Danny Rohl. The Spurs loanee is one of Rohl’s best attacking threats and has produced many moments of magic throughout Rangers’ season, including a crucial goal at Celtic Park in January. Lucky enough for the Rangers fans, the squad now face a two-week break without a fixture, which will give the young Englishman time to recover after his knock. And after Rangers statement victory yesterday afternoon, Rohl followed up on Moore’s situation. He said: “It’s not easy for Mikey. He’s a key player for us but we’re managing him during the week with ups and downs. “It’s good to have a week now when we can recover him. This is crucial. “There is no question mark, he’s a top player for us. We’ll help him and he’ll go again.” The Rangers fans will be hoping that Moore will be fit and raring to go, for the five massive split-fixtures that await Rohl’s side.

“Confident” McCann backs Kilmarnock to escape relegation threats

Neil McCann knows there is “a lot of hard work” standing between his Kilmarnock side and Scottish Premiership survival, but the former Rangers and Hearts winger has an abundance of belief ahead of the split.  Speaking at full-time after their entertaining 2-2 against Dundee on Saturday, McCann was pleased with his side’s “bravery” but acknowledged frustrations over a late equaliser. “I’m standing here probably a bit disappointed we’ve not got three points from the game. You’re looking at a game that we probably deserve three points, I feel certainly, that we could’ve got nothing. In hindsight, maybe tomorrow it might look like a good point. “We just didn’t take a couple of chances that came our way but I can’t have any complaints in how we approached the game. I thought the boys were brilliant. They were brave, loads of courage, worked their socks off.” First-half goals from Jordan Hugill and Michael Schjonning-Larsen gave Killie a 2-1 first-half advantage. But Scott Wright’s equaliser and Jordan Westley’s penalty miss almost stole all three points for Dundee. Kelle Roos produced an outstanding low save to deny Westley. But a delayed VAR decision in deciding the penalty was a source of frustration for McCann, who described the incident as “chaos”. “It’s a ridiculous situation when the referee’s got to come over and he’s got to judge whether that’s offside or not. I think it was offside. I don’t think it’s a penalty either. It’s so soft. There’s a wee bit of contact but this is a contact sport, he’s clearly not going to get on the ball. Kelle makes a good save. “We were told that they couldn’t calibrate the machine, and they couldn’t get the lines in, and then they’ve had to support the on-field decision.” The point, along with St Mirren’s defeat at Celtic Park, edges Killie just two points behind their nearest rivals, who sit 10th. With an upturn in home form, McCann’s men look reenergised and will feel confident of beating the drop. Kilmarnock’s Post Split Fixtures Aberdeen v Kilmarnock- April 25th 3 pm Kilmarnock v Dundee United – May 2nd 3 pm St Mirren v Kilmarnock – May 9th 3 pm Kilmarnock v Dundee – May 12th 7:45 pm Livingston v Kilmarnock – May 17th 2 pm