Falkirk beat struggling Airdrie United 4-1 at the Excelsior Stadium

Jay Fulton scores the opening goal for Falkirk

Falkirk took the points from struggling Airdrie United with a 4-1 victory at the Excelsior Stadium.

Lyle Taylor scored a second-half hat-trick for the visitors, adding to Jay Fulton opener - with Ryan Donnelly briefly levelling the game.

Fulton broke the deadlock on 43 minutes when he collected a pass from Keiran Duffy and his shot on the turn past the keeper.

Airdrie rallied when a free-kick was knocked down to Donnelly (56) and he fired home from close range.

But parity lasted for just 11 minutes before the Bairns struck again - this time Taylor drilled a low shot into the corner when he latched on the a defence splitting pass from Euen Grant.

United suffered a major setback when Nathan Blockley was issued with a second yellow card after a needless foul on Fulton 11 minutes from time.

And Falkirk added to Airdrie's misery within 60 seconds as Taylor pounced from the resulting free-kick by Grant before completing his treble in the dying seconds.

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