Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Keeper Penksa receives plaudits from Hughes
RAITH Rovers boss John Hughes applauded debutant goalkeeper Pavol Penksa and match-winner Ryan Hardie as the Kirkcaldy club picked up their first win in 18 matches with a 2-0 victory over St Mirren.
Hardie climbed off the bench in the second half to net a five-minute brace, while Slovakian Penksa earned a clean sheet following a nightmare journey from his homeland.
The 31-year-old had been due to arrive on Sunday but had his passport stolen at Bratislava airport.
Penksa then faced a frenzied rush to obtain the relevant paperwork that would allow him to travel across the Continent to Scotland via Vienna and Brussels.
There was no repeat of the scenes that saw forward Ryan Stevenson having to don the gloves a week earlier in the narrow defeat to Ayr United, with keepers Kevin Cuthbert, Conor Brennan and Aaron Lennox all sidelined.
Hughes, whose side are now nine points clear of Championship basement outfit St Mirren, said: “To come through the problems travelling tells you what Pavol is about.
“He is in the shop window for Scottish football to have a look.
“The goalkeeper equipped himself well.
“Agile, springy, kept a clean sheet and the boys are in there patting him on the back.”
Hughes also heaped praise on Hardie, saying: “Ryan has got something. He is a fit boy, a lovely boy, but he needs a streak.
“That’s why Rangers have put him on loan, to get that streak. You can see what he is capable of and I’ve said to him ‘the team changes from week to week, so get in it with your performances on the training ground’.”