Falkirk 2-1 Inverness CT

Higdon is congratulated after scoring Falkirk's opener

Goals either side of half-time secured a comfortable victory for Falkirk over Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Michael Higdon's close-range tap-in opened the scoring for the Bairns in the 29th minute.

Carl Finnigan added a second in the 68th minute with a strike from the edge of the penalty area.

Caley Thistle picked up a consolation in injury time when Barry Wilson converted a penalty after Thomas Scobbie felled him in the box.

The Bairns welcomed Inverness to the Falkirk Stadium still seeking to claim seventh spot in the Scottish Premier League table.

Higdon was first to stamp his authority on the match with a close-range header after just 60 seconds, but Inverness goalkeeper Michael Fraser held well.

Three minutes later, Wilson was presented with an open goal at the other end but sent his shot over the Falkirk bar.

It took almost 30 minutes before the deadlock was broken when Higdon scored his first goal after returning from injury after Moutinho swung in a corner and Darren Barr flicked on for the Englishman to tap in from three yards out.

Falkirk followed up with a flurry of corners but failed to extend their lead, although Finnigan came close with a powerful shot from 12 yards out on the left, but Wilson was on hand to block.

Caley Thistle's Don Cowie could have levelled matters six minutes from half-time with left-footed drive from distance, but Falkirk keeper Shane Supple parried.

After the break, Falkirk pushed to double their tally when Moutinho flighted in a trademark corner, but Fraser out-jumped the crowd to gather it.

The pressure from Falkirk continued with a 53rd-minute shot from Scott Arfield, but again Fraser thwarted the attack.

However, Finnigan made it two for the Bairns with a right-footed strike into the top corner of the net from 18 yards out following an assist from Moutinho.

As time wore on, Inverness struggled to make any major contribution to the match, although Ross Tokely's header bounced off the post with five minutes left to play.

In the dying minutes of injury time, Wilson was bearing down on goal when Scobbie appeared to fell him inside the box and the ref pointed to the spot.

Wilson stepped up and sent Supple the wrong way to pick up a morale-boosting consolation.

But it was John Hughes' men who deservedly took all three points from their final home match of the season.

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Falkirk: Supple, Aafjes, Barr, Scobbie, Cregg, McBride, Mitchell, Arfield (Latapy 59), Moutinho (Moffat 76), Finnigan (Stewert 86), Higdon. Subs Not Used: Olejnik, Ross, Barrett, Bradley.

Goals: Higdon 28, Finnigan 68.

Inverness CT: Fraser, Proctor, Tokely, Hastings, Imrie, Wilson, Black (Duncan 46), Cowie, McAllister (Bayne 71), Niculae (Vigurs 80), McBain. Subs Not Used: Malkowski, Hart, Wyness, Kerr.

Booked: Proctor, Bayne.

Goals: Wilson 90 pen.

Att: 5,631

Ref: S Somers

BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Please note that you can still give the players marks out of 10 on BBC Sport's Player Rater after the match has finished.