Falkirk had an opportunity to break the deadlock after 12 minutes, Gary Oliver did tremendously well to work his way through the middle and found himself in space before finding Jordan Allan who pulled the trigger towards goal that forced an outstretched save by Stuart McKenzie.
Connor O’Keefe at the other end forced a corner as Peterhead went in search of an opener, the forward getting a pass from Jack MacIver before his effort was deflected away by Paul Watson from the subsequent corner. Jason Brown got his head on a corner that found Josh Oyinsan who knocked his header over the bar.
The visitors took the lead on 26 minutes, they tried to be cute in creating that opener and an Allan delivery found Matthew Wright who guided home beyond the reach of McKenzie to open the scoring, The Blue Toon pleaded for offside but referee Peter Stuart waved away the protests and awarded John McGlynn’s side the opener.
A positive move from the hosts resulted in an equaliser on the stroke of half-time, O’Keefe won the ball on the halfway line before setting on Jack MacIver who darted through the middle of the park before firing a 20-yard effort into the bottom left corner.
A good start to the second half had belief growing with Falkirk ruling the changes and looking to come through this match unscathed, but on 57 minutes, the Bairns re-took the lead. Ola Lawal played in Allan who produced an excellent left-footed finish as the visitors looked to play with a different tempo prior to their respective Championship play-off semi-final against Airdrieonians on Tuesday.
With Falkirk on the ascendency, they got a third just a minute later as Sean Mackie and Lawal combined before the latter curled an amazing finish into the top corner from the edge of the box. With this being a needless game for the Blue Toon, the main objective for them now was avoiding damage limitation but the days of Falkirk and Airdrieonians away in March are extinguished and is never a mentality that would be allowed to crawl in under Jordon Brown or Ryan Strachan.
Coll Donaldson saw a free kick 16 minutes from time tipped away by McKenzie with the remainder of the match playing with very little chances for either side with both sides just waiting for the final whistle to blow.
It was great for our management team to give game time to John Allan, Boris Melingui, Kevin Joshua and Cody McLeod who have been seeking opportunities all season but never got it due to various circumstances. It’s the end of a disappointing season for everyone concerned with the club but hard work has already begun with 11 players tied up for next season and co-managers Brown and Strachan working hard to add to the playing squad.
Co-manager Jordon Brown said at full-time, “It was a good performance for an hour then it became false for the last half hour. We have fallen short results wise however, we’ll be back bigger, better and stronger for pre-season. We thank all the fans for their support this season, it’s been much appreciated from us all.”
Peterhead: McKenzie, Bisland, Jason Brown, Ryan Strachan, Danny Strachan, Jordon Brown, MacIver, O’Keefe, Shanks, Oyinsan. Subs: Wood, Joshua, Allan, McLeod, Melingui, Ikwa, Ritchie.
Falkirk: Morrison, Allan, Nesbitt, Yeats, Wright, Oliver, Lawal, McKay, Kucheriavyi, Mackie, Watson. Subs: Kinnear, Henderson, Donaldson, McCann, Burrell, Carroll, Sinclair, McGinley, Kennedy.
