Falkirk beat Heart of Midlothian, known as Hearts, 2-1, denying the Edinburgh side the chance to leapfrog Rangers into second place in the Scottish Premiership, after head coach Wouter Vrancken accused his players of panicking during a display he called "poor."
Goals from loan signings Ben Krauhaus and Owen Eames, either side of an equaliser from James Wilson, earned Falkirk their first league win of the season.
Vrancken offered no excuses for his side's performance. "It was a poor performance," he said. "We started the game with some poor communication and were too slow to get back into our organisation. It was not good enough."
The Belgian coach said his players had been too passive as Falkirk took control. "I saw some panic in the team in the first half. We were too reactive, not proactive. If you are not proactive, you don't find good solutions and cannot dominate a game."
"It's very annoying and frustrating," Vrancken added. "It wasn't only the guys on the ball, it was also the guys who can give the solutions. Both of those things were not there and that makes it difficult to play a good game."
Hearts rally before falling short
Vrancken said Hearts improved after the break, sending on forward JJ Williams to hold up the ball. Williams had a big chance to put Hearts ahead early in the second half, but they could not find a second goal and Falkirk held on for the win.
"If that had gone in, it might have changed things," Vrancken said. "But in the end, it just wasn't good enough and it was a deserved victory for Falkirk. Too many players were not at their level. We have to learn from this and it's important how we react now."
Vrancken confirmed Williams replaced Wilson at half-time purely as a tactical switch, and that Wilson, who scored Hearts' goal, was not injured. Wilson, 19, had been recalled to the Scotland squad the day before the match by new head coach Sebastien Pocognoli.
"James scored a good goal but after that he wasn't in the game so much," Vrancken said. "It's also about things that happened behind him. So nothing wrong with James."
McGlynn hails long-awaited win
Falkirk manager John McGlynn said he was relieved and delighted to see his team pick up their first Premiership victory of the season at the sixth attempt.
"It was good to get the monkey off our back," McGlynn said. "The fixture list wasn't kind to us but I'm delighted for the players tonight. You have to work so hard to win any game in this league and they did that. We got out the blocks well and scored a good goal."
McGlynn acknowledged Hearts' fightback but felt his side deserved the victory. "It's hard to stop a team like Hearts coming back into the game but we should have done better at their equaliser," he said. "We took over after Scott Bain saved from Williams in the second half. We had good chances and deserved the win overall. It gives us a huge lift."
Hearts, nicknamed the Gorgie men after the Edinburgh district where their Tynecastle Park stadium stands, remain behind Rangers in the Premiership table following the loss. Falkirk are nicknamed the Bairns.
