Hibernian fell to a seventh consecutive home defeat on Saturday afternoon following a 2-1 defeat to Falkirk at Easter Road.
American striker Jacob Murrell netted twice to earn Falkirk their first victory at Easter Road in over 20 years, adding further misery to Marink Reedijk and Hibs who now find themselves bottom of the Scottish Premiership table and without a win since the opening month.
The hosts, who were looking to make a quick start as Marink Reedijk took charge of his first match in front of the Easter Road crowd, created the first chance of the match within the opening five minutes.
Owen Elding drove forward before playing the ball to Martin Boyle, who earned his side a first corner of the match. A short corner routine was worked well as the ball arrived at the feet of Felix Passlack, who had time to shoot, but his effort was blocked before Thibault Klidje was unable to hit the target with a curling effort.
It had been an end-to-end start to the game with both sides looking to attack, but it was Falkirk who took an early lead in the 13th minute through striker Jacob Murrell.
Hibs had lost possession in the middle of the park, which led to a fast break up the pitch from Falkirk. Ryan Strain was quick to intercept from the loose ball as he played a perfectly timed ball through to Murrell, who rifled a right-footed shot into the top right corner, much to the delight of the travelling fans.
After going behind, Hibs failed to gain any real control within the match as Falkirk continued to pose a threat, enjoying much more of the possession.
Martin Boyle had Hibs’ best opportunity of the game on the half-hour mark. The ball had fallen to him inside the box in a dangerous position. Falkirk goalkeeper Scott Bain made himself big and got down well to deny the forward from levelling the game.
Hibs were made to pay the price for taking too long on the ball as Falkirk had a second goal of the afternoon in the 37th minute.
Klidje struggled to clear the ball away from danger at the corner flag, which resulted in Falkirk being gifted possession. Ethan Ross was quick to pick the ball up and cut it back to Jacob Murrell, who did exceptionally well to skip past Miguel Chaiwa and Jason Kerr in the Hibs box before firing the ball beyond Raphael Sallinger in the Hibs goal to net his second goal of the match.
The home support began to vent their frustrations, but Hibs responded almost instantly to going two goals behind. Passlack’s cross into the box was inviting, finding Owen Elding, who finished from close range to give Marink Reedijk’s men a lifeline before the half-time interval.
Falkirk thought they had regained their two-goal advantage before the half-time whistle blew, but midfielder Finley Barbrook was soon penalised by referee Nick Walsh for being in an offside position.
The first piece of action in the second half came when Hibs played the ball in behind the Falkirk defence for Owen Elding to latch onto. He was met by the outrushing Scott Bain, who timed his positioning well to step in and prevent Elding from scoring.
Ten minutes into the second period, Hibs were awarded a spot-kick after Falkirk defender Lewis Neilson was deemed to have fouled Hibs striker Thiebault Klidje inside the box. However, VAR intervened and overturned the initial decision, with a free-kick on the edge of the box given instead.
Martin Boyle could only fire the ball comfortably over the bar from the resulting free-kick.
As the game went on, it was Hibs who were in control as they pushed for an equaliser. This saw Reedijk turn to his attacking options that were on the bench after an hour played, as Jamie McGrath came on to make a return from injury while recent signing Rabbi Matondo was also introduced for a first home appearance at Easter Road.
After being forced to do plenty of defending throughout the second half, Falkirk eventually had a chance of their own and came close to scoring a third goal with ten minutes remaining. Owen Eames had space from six yards out from goal, but a fine save from Sallinger in the Hibs net kept his side in it with the game approaching the final ten minutes.
Moments after that, Hibs broke up the park and threatened with Jamie McGrath, who had made a positive impact since coming on. His left-footed volley from range sailed wide of goal. McGrath was providing plenty of creativity for Hibs and called Bain into action, this time with a fine strike that looked as though it was heading goalwards before Bain made a terrific save to divert it wide.
It was an impressive defensive performance from Falkirk, who were put under pressure for large spells in the game, but a poor first-half showing from Hibs, coupled with not doing enough to trouble McGlynn’s side means Falkirk record a first away victory at Easter Road since 2014.
