The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Montrose move up to fourth after claiming Raith Rovers’ scalp
MONTROSE 3 RAITH ROVERS 2
Montrose manager Stewart Petrie was bursting with pride after his men claimed the scalp of Raith Rovers to climb to fourth in League One.
In a game which was a great advert for the division, Montrose took all three points with a goal from substitute Ross Campbell, 11 minutes from time.
Petrie said: “I am really proud of the boys. We spoke before the game of how quick they start and lo and behold we lost an early goal.
“We came roaring back with a superb free-kick from Martin Rennie which gave us a lift.
“The first 20 minutes of the second half were as good as we have played.
“They equalised and pinned us back for a bit but we scored a super goal on the counter.
“We were hanging on at the end, but you would expect that against a quality side.
“Our endeavour and work rate were excellent. We upped our game and got the ball to our strikers as quickly as possible.
“On balance we deserved the three points, although we gave away some silly free-kicks and Allan Fleming had to make a few saves.
“The division is very tight and has been since day one. We have won two in a row and if we hadn’t lost a stoppage-time equaliser to Stranraer we would have been even better placed. We have a derby at Forfar next and it doesn’t get any easier.”
Raith took the lead on three minutes when Daniel Armstrong fired home a Nathan Flanagan cross.
Montrose levelled on 10 minutes when Rennie curled an unstoppable free-kick over the defensive wall from 28 yards.
Montrose might have been in front on 47 minutes. Paul Watson hit the post with a chip and the flag was up for offside as Rennie netted the rebound.
The home side did score on 59 minutes. An Iain Campbell free-kick was headed down by Watson and Craig Johnston arrived at speed to knock the ball home.
Raith were level again on 74 minutes when Kevin Nisbet scored with a shot on the turn from the edge of the box.
Montrose scored the winner on 79 minutes. Some scorching pace took Euan Henderson clear on the left and his cross was forced home by Ross Campbell.
Raith boss John McGlynn said: “We were the better team in the first half and got a goal early.
“We couldn’t do a lot about their free-kick equaliser, but we remained the better side.
“Montrose were never out of it as their front three can cause problems to any team.
“We didn’t win the first ball or the second ball when they went 2-1 up and, on balance, they deserved their lead.
“We gave ourselves a lifeline with an equaliser and I feel we could have gone on to win the game.
“We didn’t give ourselves a chance and our momentum has been halted by this defeat.”