Falkirk manager John McGlynn hailed Connor Allan after the defender marked his first league start of the season with a stunning late winner to snatch a 2-1 victory over Dundee.
The result made it back-to-back victories for the Bairns as they moved up to fourth in the William Hill Premiership.
Dundee defender Clark Robertson had earlier scored at both ends, heading in Cameron Congreve’s corner in the first half to put Dundee in front, before inadvertently side-footing Ethan Williams’ effort into his own net to level.
The hosts appeared to be settling for a point before Allan won the ball and jinked past two challenges before coolly slotting past Jon McCracken to send the home fans wild.
The former Rangers youngster only came into the team following an injury to Lewis Neilson and McGlynn was full of praise for the 21-year-old, admitting his strike is already a contender for goal of the season.
He said: “It was an amazing, incredible bit of skill. It’s goal of the week, goal of the month and maybe even goal of the season – for a centre-back, who was making his full debut and his first start.
“I’m as honest as the day is long. He’s only in because we’ve got injuries. We’ve got Lewis Neilson out, Coll Donaldson out and Tom Lang out. All three are right centre-backs.
“Connor went in and played exceptionally well and he’ll never forget that goal.
“I take my hat off to Connor. He’s a young boy who has come through the youths at Rangers. Somewhere along the line, it seems like it was decided that he wouldn’t be a centre-back and he goes to Kelty and plays as a central midfielder.
“We liked what we saw. We did a bit of business in January and we kept him at Kelty. Unfortunately he picked up an injury there and didn’t play an awful lot.
“We had a few decisions we could have made over the team but thankfully we went with that one. He’s a good player but I didn’t see that coming. That could have been a winger or an attacking player. The skill that he’s done is frightening.
“Taking the goal aside, he defended and played very well, so delighted for him and delighted for the whole team. We all had to dig in and get a result.”
Dundee manager Steven Pressley was disappointed that his side passed up an opportunity to build some momentum following last weekend’s historic victory over Celtic.
“To lose a goal in the manner we did is disappointing because, in general, our games have been decided by fine margins and we can’t lose a game based on that second goal we conceded,” he said.
“The margins are so fine just now but I thought this game would be a chance to get some sort of momentum.
“It’s been very difficult for many teams to try and get momentum. This was a real opportunity and to be leading 1-0 at half-time away from home, it was an opportunity that I’m disappointed we gave up.”
