But his dismay turned to delight as Stewart's shot crashed back off goalkeeper Andy McNeil's left-hand post and today the Easter Road striker insisted that was the stroke of luck he and his team-mates had been looking for.

He said: "I was up the park looking back and I thought it was going in and any other week it probably would have. But that is perhaps a sign that our luck has changed a bit."

The final blast of referee Willie Collum's whistle just seconds later prompted wild celebrations – more out of relief than anything – both in the stands and the home dressing-room with Hibs having survived that late Falkirk onslaught to claim their first points of the season.

And, while he admitted Hibs should almost certainly have enjoyed a far more comfortable victory, two-goal hero Nish insisted everyone was just happy with a win which should end the continual references to the poor results suffered in pre-season matches.

Nish, who had been guilty of a bad miss on the opening day of the season as Hibs went down 1-0 to his old club Kilmarnock, took just 23 seconds to claim his first goal and, when he dropped to his knees to nod home Paul Hanlon's cross to put the Easter Road side two up, it looked as if Paatelainen's players were going to stroll to victory.

However, Michael Higdon threw the Bairns a lifeline and, after Hanlon had restored Hibs' two-goal lead, the burly hitman struck again, latching onto a well-judged pass from Jackie McNamara to beat McNeil for a second time. Suddenly the nerves began jangling around the stadium, soothed only by the final whistle following that late heart-stopping moment from Stewart.

Now, though, Nish believes Paatelainen's players can put the past behind them and concentrate on the future, beginning with Saturday's trip to face Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

He said: "I was delighted to get two goals and get my season up and running. I think I needed that after last week. I've missed easier chances than that one but you need a goal to erase the memory of such a miss and thankfully it hasn't taken me long to do that. I'd done a lot of finishing in training during the week and it paid off.

"But the most important thing is we got the three points and I think that like ourselves the fans needed the win.

"They saw how hard we tried. There's always pressure, especially when you are playing at home in front of such passionate supporters but I think the early goal settled everyone down. Now I believe that as the season goes on we will get better and better. To be honest, I don't think I had my best game although I was delighted to score two and be involved in our third."

While Nish was celebrating his first goals of the season, he had a measure of sympathy for his fellow hitman Steven Fletcher who was left shaking his head in disbelief as Falkirk goalkeeper Robert Olejnik pulled off three terrific saves to deny him before a spectacular effort from 35 yards came crashing back off the bar.

Fletcher may remain goal-less at the moment, his last SPL strike being against Kilmarnock in mid-March, but Nish has no doubts the 21-year-old, named in Scotland boss George Burley's squad for tomorrow's friendly against Northern Ireland at Hampden, will be well on the way to beating last season's tally of 14.

He said: "You see Fletch's finishing in training and it is unbelievable. Against Falkirk he did nothing wrong, their goalkeeper pulled off three fantastic saves and then he hits the bar from so far out. He was fantastic and could have had a hat-trick.

"Sometimes those things happen but Fletch is a great player and great players don't worry about such things and the one thing you can bet on is that he'll be among the goals sooner rather than later."

Asked if there was anything he could do as the senior partner in the strikeforce to console his younger team-mate, Nish said: "At 21 Fletch is playing for Scotland, at that age I was struggling just to get a game. He'll be all right and I'm sure he'll definitely go on to score more than he did last season – you just need to look at the two he got against Middlesbrough for proof of that."

Nish and Fletcher struck up a formidable partnership on the former's arrival from Killie during the January transfer window, but today the ex-Dunfermline forward refuted suggestions the pairing had become less potent thereafter. He said: "Everyone says we fell away towards the end of last season but that wasn't the case because we really didn't play too much together. I was sub in a couple of games and I was also suspended. But I think we are learning all the time. You can't just throw players together and expect it to work right away. Fletch is a great player and that makes him easy to play with."

And Hibs boss Paatelainen has no doubts the signs are there that the duo – with new signing Steve Pinau desperate to make his mark – will strike fear into the heart of many SPL defences over the coming months. He said: "They are both goalscorers. Steven and Colin complement each other well because of their natural movement. We are still working on that, putting them into the right positions in the box. They will score but they also link up well with the midfield and each other and it will help when our midfielders also start scoring goals."