The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Raith keeper hails Tynecastle heroics
Raith Rovers goalkeeper Jamie Macdonald hailed his team-mates for picking up their first win at Hearts in 28 years – and then revealed he was still feeling the effects of Covid19 on Wednesday.
The 34-year-old admitted after the stunning 3-2 Championship victory at Tynecastle that he was one of the players who tested positive during the recent outbreak at Stark’s Park.
With this in mind, and considering Rovers only returned to training on Friday, Macdonald’s man of the match performance was simply outstanding.
But the keeper was not the only Rovers player who shone against Robbie Neilson’s league leaders.
Manager John Mcglynn could be proud of every one of the 14 players who contributed in Gorgie.
“I was one of the ones who had it and wasn’t feeling great, to be honest, up until Wednesday,” revealed Macdonald. “So I was feeling it at full-time.
“In the last 20 minutes I thought my calves were going to cramp up which doesn’t usually happen, especially for a goalie.
“So we all just had to look after ourselves and get healthy as quickly as we could.
“We did a light training session on Friday for the first time. And it was just about preserving as much energy for the match on Saturday.”
This was Raith’s first game in 25 days due to the weather and the postponement of last week’s clash with Inverness due to the outbreak.
However, it was Hearts who looked ring rusty as the visitors stormed to a three-goal lead inside 52 minutes.
Gozie Ugwu opened the scoring after five minutes before Raith midfielder Regan Hendry had a penalty saved by Craig Gordon.
Manny Duku converted from the spot two minutes after the restart before Regan Tumility bundled home an effort moments later.
Hearts rallied late on with a brace from Liam Boyce but the three points deservedly made their way back to Fife.
“What a team performance,” continued Macdonald.
“After the last few weeks we’ve had with adversity, with players being ill, training one day in the last two weeks and not having a
game for four weeks, the performance was outstanding.
“I thought we played unbelievably for the first hour and played some nice football.
“And then in the last halfhour you could see tiredness and fatigue setting in. But the grind and attitude of the boys was excellent.”
Macdonald, himself, was in formidable form in making sure Rovers left with all the spoils.
Stephen Kingsley, Michael Smith and Steven Naismith were among those shaking their heads in disbelief at his brilliance.
“Thankfully I’ve had a couple of saves myself,” he added modestly.
“But it’s a great win for us. And we go again on Tuesday.”
It was a second league defeat in three games for Hearts after their 3-1 defeat by Dundee at the start of the month.
Had their supporters been present on Saturday,
they would have let the players know in no uncertain terms that the display was not acceptable.
The only saving grace for Hearts is that they still have a six-point lead at the Championship summit over Dunfermline ahead of tomorrow’s rematch at Kirkcaldy.
Home forward Naismith said: “It was tough for us.
“We created a lot of chances towards the end but it was just one of those afternoons.
“There’s an expectation here, especially at home.
“We shouldn’t be conceding three goals to say the least.
“The problem was that all-round it wasn’t good enough.
“With the Dundee and Dunfermline results, there was a chance there to create a bit more of a gap at the top.
“So that’s an opportunity missed. But the games now come thick and fast and we’ve got to react.
“We’ve got to try now to win on Tuesday.”