Newspapers and Alex Totten - who’d have ‘em? One is bad enough but the two of them together? Surely it couldn’t get any worse, well unless John Martin joined in on the act as well.

Apparently Alex has figured out how to beat the Saints and of course his good chums - the tabloid press - are only to happy to publicise it. Apparently he’s found out the weaknesses in Tom Hendrie’s system and how to exploit those shortcomings and use them to his advantage. So when he comes out and says he couldn’t have asked any more of his players after yesterdays game obviously he’s realising he was wrong. Maybe he’s finally realised that the Saints’ don’t have any weaknesses.

As if Totten could get the better of Hendrie anyway, according to one upmarket free ‘paper last week the Love street gaffer is officially as good as Alex Ferguson because his side equalled the record of 7 straight league wins. On that evidence he must now be better than Sir Alex after setting a new record with an eighth victory yesterday. Now how could Falkirk’s Alex beat that?

It was obvious from the first kick of the ball yesterday that he couldn’t. Whereas in the sides last encounter Falkirk had made all the early running Saints knew what to expect this time and were determined not to let a repeat of that 3-1 defeat occur this time around. They piled on the pressure in the opening stages and it paid off when after only five minutes Mark Yardley opened the scoring.

It was a typical Yardley goal with the frontman timing his run in behind the defence beautifully to meet a Steven McGarry chip and place his volley beyond Myles Hogarth in the Falkirk goal.

McGarry himself had two great opportunities later on in the half to extend the lead. His first chance was when running on to a Barry McLaughlin through ball but with only the goalkeeper to beat he delayed his shot too long allowing Jamie McQuilken time to get back and make a challenge. He also had another great chance when he found space inside the penalty area but from a tight angle he shot high and wide when a simple ball across goal would have resulted in an easy chance for either Barry Lavety or Yardley.

With only a minute of the half remaining Lavety seemed to have a great claim for a penalty when he was caught from behind by McQuilken but despite the cries from the stands referee Mike McCurry waved play on.

There was no doubt that Saints were deserved leaders going in at half time with Scott Walker also going close during the half when he forced Hogarth to save at full stretch with a right footed drive from 25 yards.

An onslaught from the visitors was to be expected in the second half but it took them until the 60th minute to have a serious attempt at goal when Davie Nicholls converted with a header from a corner on the right. Although this effort was to be chalked off the same player had the ball in the net only a minute later and this time the goal stood.

Ludovic Roy, suffering from a groin strain he picked up during the course of the game, flapped at a McQuilken cross and the ball fell to Nicholls who from 16 yards drove the ball through a ruck of bodies and into the net.
The most critical period for teams facing the league leaders though, seems to be the five or ten minutes following a goal and as with the rest of the division Falkirk made the mistake of falling asleep when only six minutes later Saints regained the lead.

Gary Bowman’s free kick into the box caused problems for the away defence and when the ball was cleared it fell straight back at the former Ayr man’s feet. His first time ball back into the box rebounded off Junior Mendes - a 52nd minute substitute for Yardley - and into the path of Lavety whose shot from 6 yards bobbled past Hogarth and trickled over the line.

“Alex Totten supermanager” had no reply to this effort and although his side did manage to get some quality balls into the box the resilient home defence were a match for each one. If he thought he had discovered the key to beating St.Mirren then his friend Tom Hendrie was obviously one step ahead of him in changing the locks as his side now languish 15 points behind the first division front runners.

St.Mirren: Roy, Nicolson, Bowman, Turner, McLaughlin, Walker, Baltacha (Rudden 78), Brown, Lavety, McGarry, Yardley (Mendes 52)  Sub Not Used: Robinson

Falkirk: Hogarth, McKenzie, McQuilken, Lawrie, Innes (Seaton 46), Nicholls, Hutchison (Kerr 79), Henry, Crabbe, McDonald, Hagen  Sub Not Used: McStay

Sizzling Saint: For the second week running it was the defensive players in the saints team who stole the show. Gary Bowman, in his first start for the club, put in an excellent performance down the left while Barry McLaughlin was rock solid in the centre of defence. The award this week though goes to McLaughlin’s defensive partner - Scott Walker - who not only defended valiantly throughout but also caused problems for Falkirk when venturing forward.