THE biblical rain that ravaged the Falkirk Stadium would have given divine hope to those Kilmarnock supporters who thought their team needed a miracle in this Ladbrokes Premiership play-off.

A chronic domestic season that saw them finish by drowning in a 4-2 defeat to already relegated Dundee United, many of the Ayrshire side’s faithful supporters spent the first 15 minutes of this contest in a snaking queue outside the ground, praying not to hear the sound of Is This The Way To Amarillo boom out over the stadium’s PA system.

After all, they were coming to face a Falkirk side who just six days earlier spectacularly dumped Hibernian out at the semi-final stage on this very spot in the dying seconds, and seemingly riding on a sky-high wave of belief and confidence.

Once in the ground, it must have come as a bit of a surprise to the soggy Kilmarnock fans that their team had the best opportunities over a tense and nervy 90 minutes, Kris Boyd twice having efforts hacked clear of the line. However, the 7636 inside the Falkirk Stadium should not have wagered against the home side clinching yet another dramatic winner.

And that is just what happened with the very last kick of the ball as Will Vaulks popped up on 91 minutes to slam in a goal that gives Peter Houston’s men the upper hand going into Sunday’s second leg at Rugby Park.

Despite missing forward Josh Magennis, Kilmarnock started the brighter. On five minutes a Gary Dicker cross was flapped at by Danny Rogers, while Boyd was only able to turn the rebound back across goal before it was hacked clear.

However, the tide turned on 20 minutes with the arrival of Falkirk’s first chance. Blair Alston tries a volley from the edge of the box as a scrappy clearance descends. It trundled into the arms of Jamie MacDonald and he gathered at the second attempt.

Ten minutes later and Falkirk could have, and dearie me should have, gone one goal ahead. Jamie MacDonald failed to catch the rain-soaked ball as Bob McHugh fizzed a drive from the right hand side at his goal, instead dropping it at the feet of Falkirk striker John Baird, who blazed his effort high with the goal gaping from six yards. Baird would also get joy down the same flank shortly before the break but he lofted his shot wide.

Apart from that early chance for Boyd and a penalty shout when Tope Obadeyi was probably too honest to stay on his feet under a robust Luke Leahy challenge, the Premiership club looked jaded as they entered the dressing room at half-time.

The beast that emerged from it was almost unrecognisable. A raft of pressure at the start of the second half forced Falkirk back, and they went agonisingly close to taking the lead within a few minutes of the restart as Boyd curled a shot from the edge of the box. It beat Rogers, but the newly-shaved head of Craig Sibbald nodded it clear.

Again Kilmarnock came and Tobadeyi somehow spurned a glorious chance. A neat pass from Boyd put the Englishman racing in on goal, into the box, around Rogers, and too wide of the gaping goal to cut his shot back.

The message driven into his players at half-time by Lee Clark continued to ring in their ears as the showers subsided and the chances continued to rain down on the Falkirk goal. On 76 minutes Boyd came agonisingly close at the back post when Craig Slater’s deep cross found him unmarked, only for his header to be clawed away by Rogers.

With just one minute added on, it seemed that Falkirk would have to content themselves with a battling draw. However, Vaulks would have the final say.

As the clock struck 91 minutes exactly, A Sibbald lay off to the midfielder on the edge of the box teed him up for a thundering low shot, that squeezed through a ruck of bodies and by the blind-sighted MacDonald.

Maybe that miracle may be needed after all.

FALKIRK: Rogers; Muirhead, Watson, McCracken, Leahy; Alston (Shepherd 60), Kerr, Vaulks, Sibbald; McHugh, Baird (Hippolyte 77)

UNUSED SUBS: Mehmet, Taiwo, O’Hara, Gallacher

SCORERS: Vaulks 91

BOOKINGS: Kerr

KILMARNOCK: MacDonald; O’Hara, Addison, Ashcroft, Hodson; Obadeyi, McKenzie, Dicker, Slater, Kiltie, Boyd

UNUSED SUBS: Brennan, Findlay, Higginbotham, Balatoni, Taylor, Whittaker, Frizzell

SCORERS:

BOOKINGS: Obadeyi

REFEREE: John Beaton

ATTENDANCE: 7636