'I've offered to pay his fine' - Falkirk loan goalkeeper Sam Long happy to take blame for Partick Thistle leveller

The English stopper, 20, saved three penalties to earn the Bairns a bonus point against Partick Thistle on Saturday in the Viaplay Cup – but it was also his hospital pass that saw teammate Brad Spencer sent off just after the hour mark.

From the resulting free kick, veteran Brian Graham made it a double punishment scoring as his team went on to eventually grab a 2-2 draw late on.

Speaking to the Falkirk Herald, Long said: “Aflie (Agyeman) got me out of jail with his goal. Their first goal was just one of those moments that happen. When I first looked up to pass to Brad (Spencer) it was on and by the time that I hit the ball and looked up again I could see it wasn’t on at all.

“When you play the way we want to play, things like that can happen. It is all about how you react and we reacted well. I am of course personally not happy with the goal and I told Brad that I would pay his fine.

"It was nice to save the penalties in the shoot-out and I do enjoy moments like that.”

On the match, he continued: “We were disappointed to not come away with the three points. We dominated for long spells of the game and put a lot into it. We take the two points rather than just the one.

“It was a lot more hectic than my first game (against The Spartans) and we really put ourselves about against a team in the division above us. In general we can be happy with the way we played. All we can do is try to make it through.”