Pars into top four as Rovers stay in title hunt

LEAGUE ONE: Barr and Zanatta secure crucial win thanks to late goals

RAITH ROVERS 2 ALBION ROVERS 0

Raith Rovers gained a late reward for steady second-half attacking pressure on a rain-spattered afternoon at Stark’s Park.

It was largely a game to forget in the difficult conditions and seemed to be heading for a scoreless draw as Albion Rovers looked as if they might keep their hosts contained and pick up a point away from home.

But a goal by Bobby Barr five minutes from time made it pretty much safe for Raith before Willis Furtado combined with fellow sub Dario Zanatta to make victory certain.

Raith manager Barry Smith said the most pleasing aspect of the performance was how the Kirkcaldy side kept going, while they knew they would have to be patient after failing to score early on.

“We have been at home before and we’ve had to dig out results, and today was another day like that,” he added.

“We scored two goals near the death but that’s all down to the boys’ fitness and their willingness to get forward and win the game.”

Both sides tried to master the heavy conditions early on and, as a consequence, the first half was fairly Bobby Barr said Rovers were rewarded for their patience.

The winger, who scored the opening goal, said: “We didn’t really create a lot but they got chances from our mistakes and I think that’s the only way they were going to score.

“But we persisted and, thankfully, we got the wee breakthrough we needed.

“The gaffer had said at half-time that we had 45 minutes to go and score, and that there was no rush. We were patient.” even. Second-top Raith, who remain three points adrift of leaders Ayr, looked a little unconvincing in defence at times against second-bottom Albion, and Aaron Lennox did will to tip away an angled drive in the 14th minute from Scott Maclean.

In 21 minutes, Raith’s Lewis Vaughan missed a great chance after he had cut in skilfully from the right, and got a fortunate bounce of the ball, but hit his shot into the side netting from near the six-yard box.

Albion enjoyed a small flurry of chances just before the interval. An offside-looking Alan Trouten looked almost certain to score after collecting a flick forward but his attempt to lob Lennox went embarrassingly wide.

The visitors looked a little more menacing early in the second half but Raith gained possession and injected a bit more urgency into their game.

Whether the crowd would see any goals or not remained far from certain until another Raith attack finally paid dividends on the 85th minute.

The home side carried the ball into the box with a skilful passage of play and Vaughan laid it off to Bobby Barr, who kept calm and slammed it into the roof of the net.

Then, with 89 minutes on the clock, Furtado made a strong, penetrating run down the left and crossed for Zanatta to net from close range.

Rovers boss Brian Kerr said a 2-0 defeat was something of a kick in the teeth to his squad after the way they had played and was unhappy with a number of the decisions by referee Graham Beatson.

Patience paid off for Raith – Barr

Goalscorer Dario Zanatta, right, struck in the final minute to ensure Rovers stay close to leaders Ayr.