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No 10: Celebrating 150 years of Falkirk Football Club in 150 games Here is match number ten in our new ‘150 years in 150 games’ feature. FALKIRK 4 HEARTS 0 Saturday, January 25, 2003 at Brockville Park. Young Craig Gordon wouldn’t forget this one in a hurry. After only a matter of seconds, he rushed from his goal to smother the ball at Samuel’s feet. Then Coyle played Samuel in again and his shot hit Gordon’s left hand post. The young keeper must have thought his defensive colleagues were still mentally overseas, when Samuel made it third time lucky in the third minute. Coyle’s pass was gathered; he swivelled and hit a diagonal drive into the bottom corner of the net. Hearts were stung into retaliation and chances fell to Stamp, Valois, and Weir. After Weir’s attempted one-two with Valois broke down, Falkirk broke up field and Owen Coyle finished off in clinical style after neat work by Henry. Brockville was bouncing, as text messages were flashed to absent friends and relatives who must have queried their accuracy. When Samuel made it 3-0 after sixteen minutes, the home support were rubbing their eyes in disbelief. Mahe had dithered and Samuel had pounced, leaving the Hearts defence in his wake. The pace had been unbelievable and Gordon was left shell-shocked. Pressley was at fault when Samuel scored his second successive hat-trick and Falkirk were 4-0 up by the 31st minute. The reaction around Scotland must have been unbelievable, and everyone in navy-blue was given a standing ovation as the teams went off at half time. The second half was a bit of an anti-climax. Hearts’ best chance fell to De Vries but he headed wide. John Hughes waved goodbye to the Hearts supporters who had remained to see the last rites, and you sensed he rather enjoyed that. Samuel was replaced by McSween with six minutes left for play. He had had his finest game as a Bairn and had confounded all those who said he wouldn’t make it. Credit to a Falkirk supporter, Simon Lindsay and Back the Bairns for bringing him to Brockville. It was a proud day to be a Falkirk supporter, and the pubs and clubs of the town had a night to remember. THE STARTING TEAMS FALKIRK: Ferguson, Rennie, Hughes, Nichols, Henry, MacKenzie, McPherson, Kerr, Miller, Samuel (MacSween), Coyle. Subs (Unused): Cringean, Rodgers, Creaney, Hill HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN: Gordon, McKenna, Pressley, Mahe, Maybury, MacFarlane, Boyack, Stamp, Valois, Weir, De Vries Subs: Severin, Webster, Wales, Simmons, Moilanen SEASON AT A GLANCE Falkirk final league position – 1st. Falkirk league top scorer – Owen Coyle on 20. SPL winners – Rangers. First Division winners – Falkirk. Second Division winners – Raith Rovers. Third Division winners – Greenock Morton. Scottish Cup winners – Rangers. League Cup winners – Rangers. JANUARY 2003 TRIVIA UK No.1 – Sound of the Underground by Girls Aloud. USA No.1 – Lose Yourself by Eminem. Top TV show – Coronation Street STV. Death of Bee Gee Maurice Gibb aged 53. Chicago won Best Picture Oscar. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix published.