Falkirk 3 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1

Last updated : 30 December 2006 By Footymad Previewer
Anthony Stokes cracked in his third hat-trick of the season to take his goal tally to 16 and sink Inverness.

The on-loan Arsenal kid leads the scoring charts in the SPL and his pace and clinical finishing have rejuvenated Falkirk this season.

But it may be that Charlton Athletic will steal the talented Irishman in the transfer window, which would leave a massive void for Falkirk boss John Hughes to fill.

After a dismal opening 25 minutes Falkirk began to click and only a fine challenge from Richard Hastings denied Stokes as he ran on to Russell Latapy's through ball.

And Latapy's vision created the opener on 33 minutes as he stepped away from Darren Dods to pick out Stokes' run with the 18-year-old slipping home a cool finish.

Three minutes later Falkirk were two in front and this time Stokes exchanged passes with Manuel Vitor Santos and beat Mark Brown at his near post with a low finish.

Stokes' hat-trick was complete seconds before the interval and this time it was a simple tap-in. Kenny Milne created the chance with a cut-back from the by-line and Stokes was unmarked to slot home.

There was a suspicion of offside which led to an angry reaction from Ian Black at half-time and he was given two yellow cards for kicking the ball away and didn't re-emerge after the break.

Falkirk could have increased their lead with both Darren Barr and Stokes striking the woodwork in the second half.

But in the event, John Rankin grabbed a late consolation for Inverness with a 25-yard strike in the last minute of the game.