As the Gretna players and fans toasted just their third Clydesdale Bank Premier League win of the season on Saturday and their first clean sheet, there must have been that “what if?” thought on the back of their minds. What if they had kept Kenny Deuchar from the start of the season?

The league’s bottom team have been adrift since game one of the season when they met Saturday’s opponents, Falkirk, and got trounced 4-0 at the same venue. Gretna are less vulnerable and better defensively since that day in August, but they have one main asset that was, inexplicably, not around then - Deuchar.

Deuchar terrorised Darren Barr, the new Falkirk captain, who was given a chasing in the aerial combats between the two. And it was the Gretna striker’s looping header that broke the deadlock before Paul Murray blasted a superb volley to seal the points early into the second half.

Deuchar’s recall into the side has coincided with the Borders club becoming a tough nut to crack and he is a proven goalscorer. But for reasons outwith Deuchar’s control, Gretna opted to send him to Northampton Town on loan last season and then St Johnstone this one. A decision that Deuchar hinted may not have come from Davie Irons, the manager.

Deuchar is a qualified doctor who still practices, but has had to put his medical studies to one side to give himself a crack at the football big time. And he is a man who clearly has faith in his own ability. “Since I came back to the club, we have picked up eight points in seven games and we have turned it around a bit,” he said.

“I’m leaving at the end of the season and I won’t change my mind. I have got to look at my own future and the better I do for Gretna, the better it could be for me. I want to play at the highest level because I have made a lot of sacrifices for football when I left university. I wanted to leave last year and that’s why I handed in a transfer request and nothing has changed. But if it doesn’t work out, then I have other things to be getting on with. The longer I stay out of medicine, the harder it is to get back in.

“I told Gretna they were making a mistake at the start of the season by not playing me but they told me I could go to St Johnstone on loan and when someone tells you that, it is obvious you are not wanted.” What a mistake the Gretna hierarchy have made because there is no doubt they would have been a far better side with Deuchar around. Irons would not reveal whose decision it was and preferred to concentrate on hauling nine points back from their nearest rivals, Kilmarnock.

“I did speak to Kenny at the start of the season, but that conversation will remain private,” Irons said. “He has a point to prove though. I have said all along that I will never give up hope and we have clawed it back to nine when it was 11 points. We will strive to reduce the gap and today we showed belief, determination and fight.

“We have taken a lot of knocks and criticism this season, but the belief and the spirit of the squad has always been superb. I told the players that there was no use hitting the heights against Rangers [a narrow 2-1 defeat] and then suffering a big fall-out in the next game. We set our standards on Wednesday and we had to make sure we matched that – and we did.”

Falkirk were disappointing and never threatened to reach the heights of recent weeks. John Hughes, the manager, said: “We got exactly what we deserved – nothing. All credit to Gretna, they were spirited and determined. I felt a couple of players were maybe blasé about it. To be fair, they have been punching above their weight, but today they were there in body but not in spirit and mind. When I ask for a fight I expect them to fight.”

How they rated:

Gretna (4-4-2): T Caig 7 – D Hall 7, C Innes 7, A Collin 6, K Naughton 7 – P Murray 7, G Skelton 8, M Buscher 6, A Jenkins 7 – K Deuchar 7, F Yantorno 7 (sub: H Makinwa, 88min). Substitutes not used: G Fleming, M Canning, B McGill, N Deverdics, D Robinson, R Baldacchino. Booked: Buscher.

Falkirk (4-4-2): T Krul 6 – J Ross 5, D Barr 5, T Scobbie 5, D Holden 6 (sub: R Latapy, 69 4) – K McBride 5, P Cregg 6 (sub: S Bradley, 55 3), A Riera 5, P Moutinho 7 (sub: K Milne, 63 3) – G Barrett 6, C Finnigan 6. Substitutes not used: R Olejnik, G Aafjes, C Mitchell, M Stewart.