Scottish football bible Willie Duncan (@Willie_Duncan) shares his best bet from north of the border this weekend.
Falkirk v Ayr | Saturday 15.00
Rarely have I been so surprised to see Hibernian lose a football match as I was last weekend.
There was talk of records tumbling at Easter Road as the Hibees set their sights on a sixth successive league win at the start of the Championship season.
It certainly looked on the cards when Jason Cummings gave the Hibees the lead against Ayr but it all went spectacularly wrong for Neil Lennon’s team after Marvin Bartley was sent off – with the visitors grabbing two late goals to claim a 2-1 win in Leith.
I'd imagine, too, that if he was being entirely honest, Ayr's manager – Ian McCall – would confess to being, at least, a little surprised by his side's superb fightback.
Prior to the win at Easter Road, Ayr's only Championship win had come against Greenock Morton at Somerset Park, while the Honest Men had suffered a hammering in each of their previous two away games against Queen of the South and Dundee United respectively.
McCall must be hoping that his side hasn't quite exhausted their good fortune, though, for on Saturday, Ayr travel to take on Falkirk – a club with which McCall is certainly familiar having had a spell there both as a player and as a manager.
Falkirk have shaken off a poor start to the campaign to record four wins on the trot and Peter Houston's charges look likely to be amongst the main challengers at the top of the table yet again this season.
The Bairns boast a brilliant home record in this division, for they have lost just five of their last 30 Championship fixtures at home – and four of those defeats have come against either Hearts or Hibs.
Falkirk have scored 12 goals in their last four games, conceding just twice and it is little wonder that they are as short as 1/2 to win this one.
Backing the Bairns (-1), in the handicap market, however, at 13/8 (Paddy Power) could yield profit and, therefore, this solid selection represents my best bet from Scotland this weekend.
Best Bets
Falkirk v Ayr – Falkirk -1 handicap (13/8 Paddy Power)
