Falkirk have reached the last eight of the Co-operative Insurance Cup in a thrilling win over Hearts.
SPL side dumped out of the cup at the Falkirk Stadium
Falkirk have reached the last eight of the Co-operative Insurance Cup in a thrilling last-gasp 4-3 win over 10-man Hearts.
Mark Stewart grabbed a dramatic injury-time winner for the Scottish First Division side after a spirited comeback from their SPL opponents.
The Bairns had the lead during the interval after goals from Stewart and Carl Finnigan and also had the numerical advantage after Hearts full-back Craig Thomson was given his marching orders in the 26th minute.
In a breath-taking second period, the visitors fought back and led 3-2 via a Kevin Kyle brace sandwiched between Suso Santana's strike but they still ended up on the losing team as Ryan Flynn equalised before Stewart snatched victory with seconds remaining.
It had not looked good for Falkirk when they had to make a change in the fourth minute when former Hibs striker McManus hobbled off following a touchline challenge with Santana, to be replaced by Stewart.
However, the disruption did not affect the home side who created the first chance in the sixth minute when Jack Compton battled well near the touchline to cut the ball back for Finnigan whose shot from 12 yards sped across the goal and past the far post.
The visitors failed to heed the warning and with their defence wide open again, Compton played in Stewart who drove under goalkeeper Marian Kello for the opener.
The game became more tetchy after Thomson was sent off for kicking out at Finnigan as they both lay prostrate, after referee Winter took instruction from his assistant Stuart MacAulay and his fourth official Eddie Smith.
Hearts boss Jim Jefferies waited a few minutes before replacing striker Elliot with Adrian Mrowiec.
But five minutes from the break, Stewart raced on to a pass from Kallum Higginbotham, pulled the ball back from the byline and the unmarked Finnigan sidefooted past Kello.
Determined
Hearts came out in determined mood at the start of the second half but within two minutes Falkirk almost made it 3-0 on the break when Finnigan's angled drive from 16 yards was straight at Kello.
An increasingly frenzied cup tie swung from end to end and just after the hour mark, with huge gaps in the Hearts defence again, Stewart drove over the bar from the edge of the box after taking a pass from Compton.
David Templeton went close for Hearts when his drive zipped past the post, before Winter, at the behest of his fourth official Smith, had to warn the Hearts bench to calm down.
But they had reason to get excited again soon after when Kyle converted the spot-kick awarded when Bairns skipper Burton O'Brien felled Santana inside the box.
There was more drama when Santana drove in from just inside the packed Bairns penalty area after the home side had failed to clear Ryan Stevenson's corner.
To the delight of the travelling fans behind the goal, Kyle then rose to head a Stevenson free-kick in off the crossbar to give the visitors the lead before Flynn drove in a wonderful left-footed shot to draw the teams level again.
The game looked certain to be heading for extra-time but Compton's corner from the right landed at Stewart who knocked in from close range to send the Bairns fans into ecstasy.
