Lucky day for Falkingham family

"I was probably a little bit of a lucky boy but I was pleased that the referee saw a bit of sense and handled the situation well."

Josh Falkingham thrives on local derbies it seems having scored against both Cowdenbeath and Raith Rovers since he joined the Pars for season 2012-13. His tackle on Eddie Malone after just 30 seconds on Saturday was one that he was possibly lucky only to see referee Calum Murray's yellow card. Josh talked about it after the game:-

"I was probably a bit late in on him; he is an experienced boy. I am not going to lie, it was a bit of a naughty one early doors. I was pumped up for it and you see when it goes to a full back and it is just me running straight across. Probably the boy sees me coming and is able to make it look even worse by jumping as high as he can.

"Obviously I was a little bit worried to begin with but the gaffer had a word with me on the side to make me calm down. I was probably a little bit of a lucky boy but I was pleased that the referee saw a bit of sense and handled the situation well."

But Josh ended up with a bloody mouth later in the half when his victim inflicted an injury on him:-

"He has just caught me, he says that he didn't see me but he was the one who caught me with the elbow. My tooth went through my lip and I needed a couple of stitches at half time. It is just one of those things - you just get on with it. I am used to knocks and bruises, for me it is just one of those things that happens in football. I will get on with it."

Nursing his fat lip Josh claimed that he was delighted with the win over Raith Rovers.

"Today we got the result that we wanted. The atmosphere was great and to score a goal myself was brilliant. Getting the three points was all that was important in front of a great crowd."

In the crowd on Saturday were Josh's father Paul and mother Melanie and younger brother Mitch who had travelled up for the Rovers game and they must have been mightily relieved too that it was just yellow that was shown to Josh in the first minute.

"It is always going to be a big derby this one, being new to the Club I had heard all about it. I was delighted to get the family up to put on a decent show as well. Travelling all the way from Leeds you want to put on a good one for them so I am delighted in that sense.

"These are big games that people are pumped up for. I have played in a few derbies at Arbroath against Angus clubs but for me this is the biggest one that I have played in and the best one. We played really well, got on top of them early on and really dictated the game from start to finish."