Falkirk 1 - 1 Aberdeen

At Brockville Park, Falkirk, before some 8000 spectators. Falkirk pressed at the outset, and Simpson had a grand try, which was saved on the post by King. The heavy ground hampered the players, and there was a good deal of miskicking and muddling. Bain, for Falkirk, had a nice solo run, but when in the act of shooting Wyllie charged him down from behind, inside the eighteen yards area, and from the resultant penalty kick Agnew scored with a fine shot. After the reverse the "Dons" wakened up, and had repeated raids on the home goal. Soye was presented with an open goal, but losing his footing on the slippery ground, he missed the ball in amusing fashion. Shortly after Stewart had a great save from Travers, the goalkeeper turning the ball aside when lying almost helpless in the mud. Soye redeemed himself later on by giving McIntosh the chance to equalise, and that player, unmarked by Anderson, had no difficulty in netting. Play ruled even in the second portion. Both goals ran narrow escapes, Stewart just managed to turn aside a rocket shot from Soye in the closing minutes. Result:- Falkirk, one goal; Aberdeen, one.

Source: The Scotsman, 9th January 1911

The return league game between Falkirk and Aberdeen at Brockville Park on Saturday was witnessed by a crowd estimated at fully 7000. The pitch was very soft, and rain fell throughout the game. Aberdeen were without Lennie, Murray, and Wilson. The teams were:-

Falkirk: Stewart; Leishman, Agnew; McDonald, Anderson, McMillan; Simpson, R. D. Bain, T. Logan, Croal, Brown.
Aberdeen: King; Colman, Hume; Davidson, Wyllie, Millar; Soye, Travers, McIntosh, Edgar, Neilson.
Referee - Mr. Lyon, Hamilton.

Falkirk started off in promising style, Simpson and Bain being prominent on the right wing. A pass from Logan enabled Croal to get through between the backs, but the inside left made poor use of his opening. Falkirk continued to worry the Aberdeen defence, but King was seldom troubled, the shooting of the home forwards being very weak. This was not to be wondered at, however, considering the slippery nature of the ground. Twice in quick succession Croal made great efforts to beat King, but on each occasion the ball went skidding past the upright, while Bain was pulled up by Hume within a few yards of goal. Gradually the attacks of the Falkirk front rank became less persistent, and a long pass form Davidson to Soye enabled the latter to transfer play to the other end of the field. A cross from Soye was picked up by McIntosh, but the latter was tackled by Agnew ere he could steady himself to shoot. Play on the whole was keen and very fast, but the heavy going and white ball proved a severe handicap to the men. 15 minutes from the start Falkirk opened the scoring from a penalty given against Millar for charging Bain inside the area. The offense was unnoticed by the referee, and the game was actually in progress when an appeal was made. The referee consulted the linesmen, and finally the free-kick was given. I knew was called up to take the penalty, and sent the ball hard against inside of the crossbar, and it ultimately landed in the net. Aberdeen retaliated in spirited fashion, the half backs forcing the game in rare style. McIntosh and travers were also prominent, and the shot from the latter was saved on the ground by Stewart, while later on he cleared a long shot from Soye. The visitors continued to have the best of matters, and a combined movement by the entire front rank was finished off by McIntosh securing the equalising goal. The point was well work for. Neilson crossed the ball to the right, were Soye was tackled by Agnew. The winger subsequently slipped the ball to Davidson, who in turn transferred it to McIntosh, who beat Stewart with a slow, slanting shot. Aberdeen had no more of the play, Travers, McIntosh, and Soye doing good in the front rank, while Edgar and Neilson were frequently in evidence on the left. A long drive by Leishman was easily cleared by King, while the goalkeeper had no difficulty in getting rid of shots sent in by Simpson and Croal. A fine bit of tackling by Colman, followed up by a strong return by Hume, Croat play to the other end of the field. McIntosh fastened on the ball, but lost his footing in the mud, and thus a good chance was lost to Aberdeen. It was noticeable at this stage but Simpson showed a great falling off in his play compared with this form at the start of the game. This was mainly due to the effective tackling of Hume, who was quite at his best. Close on the interval both sides made strong efforts to gain the mastery, but the respective back divisions were very safe, while the uncertain footing was all against accurate shooting.

When the game was restarted whether showed no signs of improvement, and all together the conditions were far from inviting. The first noteworthy incident was a long shot, from the touch line, sent in by Simpson. The ball came curling across the field, but King rushed out and cleared. Pulling themselves together, the Aberdeen forwards made a dash for the other end of the field. Edgar got on the ball, and subsequently transferred to Neilson, who ran a short distance, and then let drive. The ball went bang against the foot of the upright, but Stewart was in readiness, and would probably have cleared had the ball came his way. This incident was followed by a long spell of quiet, uneventful play. Both sides had by this time felt the effects of the heavy going, and as a result there were few outstanding incidents in the game, although the backs on either side kicked with refreshing vigour. A long drive by Anderson, centre-half, was saved by King, who, however, was penalised for carrying the ball beyond the prescribed limit. There was an exciting melee in Aberdeen goalmouth following upon the free-kick, but Colman got the ball away. A quarter of an hour from the finish of the game Falkirk made a final attempt to pull off the match. Morgan, and Bain, and Croal joined in a sweeping movement, but the Aberdeen backs withstood all the attempts at scoring by the Falkirk forwards. The pressure at times was terrific, but, curiously enough, King had very little saving. Latterly the plate turned in favour of Aberdeen, McIntosh leading the way in the centre. Soye, however, hesitated in crossing the ball, and finally lost it, but Travers caught up the ball within a few yards of goal and sent in a very fast shot, which Stewart saved close to the upright. Write to the finish the play was keen, but there was no further scoring.

Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 9th January 1911