Five-star start for Falkirk as Bairns blow away Edinburgh City in Premier Sports Cup

John McGlynn reckons Falkirk forward duo Ross MacIver and Ben Parkinson will be able ease the burden of losing Barney Stewart over the summer. The Bairns boss watched his side open up the competitive campaign with a 5-0 victory over Edinburgh City in the Premier Sports Cup - with MacIver and Parkinson both on the scoresheet at Meadowbank. Having battled back from an injury-hit season last term, MacIver netted a hat-trick against the Citizens while Parkinson bundled from close range. Connor Allan also grabbed a goal for McGlynn’s side as they secured a simple three points. Speaking after the 5-0 win that sent Falkirk to the top of Group G after matchday one, McGlynn hailed the performance of his two strikers after they both scored. “Ross has actually played very well in pre-season training,” McGlynn said. “This should be a huge boost for him. He scored goals in games that we had amongst ourselves across in Portugal. He was in amongst the goals all the time. As was Ben too. The two of them were really, really sharp. The two of them were flying. “We've lost Barney (Stewart) and we would have loved to have him but it is one of these things. It's great business for the club. But we do believe that we've got two very, very good strikers in Ross and Ben. “Ross isn’t know for scoring loads and loads of goals so he has made a good start this season. And hat-trick today will do him the world of good. He started last season very well. But then he had to get an operation after the Kilmarnock match, And it took a long time for him to come back. Much longer than expected. “When he came back, Barney was putting the ball in the back of the net so it very difficult for him to break in. Ben came back around about a similar time. He picked up an injury too, and then again it was tough to break in with Barney doing so well.” Reviewing the performance, McGlynn was delighted with the “professional” attitude from his players to get the job done early. The squad had only played one pre-season friendly before Saturday’s clash but they swiftly got back to their best and scored the first goal of the Scottish season when MacIver headed home after just five minutes from Scott Tanser’s excellent free-kick delivery. The boss said: “The boys were very professional and got the job done very early. And that is exactly what we wanted. We've had some tricky games here. You know, it's not that long ago that we were playing here in the league game. We were in a great position at half time. “Obviously, you want to go out and try and replicate that. And we tried to do that. The intensity came out of the game from us a little bit. But we were always a threat and didn't really look at losing a goal. The fifth goal late on was no more than we deserved.” Meanwhile, McGlynn confirmed that midfielder Aidan Nesbitt had travelled to hospital for a scan after he was forced off via a stretcher in the first half after going down injured. “He's not having any luck whatsoever, it’s a real shame,” McGlynn admitted. “He picked up injuries last season that curtailed his season. It's his ankle. He's at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh right now. He's getting a scan.”