The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Character the key as Raith show resilience
Smith’s men show fighting spirit in coming from behind against Airdrie
RAITH ROVERS 2 AIRDRIEONIANS 1
Raith Rovers took a significant step in the League 1 title race by coming from behind to beat Airdrieonians at Stark’s Park on Saturday.
The 2-1 victory took the Kirkcaldy side eight points clear of second-placed Ayr United, who have a game in hand after taking a break from league duties to face Rangers in the Scottish Cup.
A Dale Carrick header on the stroke of half-time gave the Diamonds a deserved lead, but Raith raised their game with second-half goals from Willis Furtado and Lewis Vaughan.
Furtado haunted his former club with a strong performance in attack, and the 20-year-old was delighted to grab his second goal for the Fifers since moving from Airdrie in the January window.
He said: “I really enjoyed my time at Airdrie as they are all good guys.
“Normally I want them to do well but not so much when they are playing against me.
“Airdrie were good in the first half but our manager trusts us and he said at half-time he knew we were going to win the game.”
Raith welcomed club captain Kyle Benedictus back into the starting line-up for the first time since breaking his leg against Ayr in September.
The visitors had the better of the first half exchanges with Aaron Lennox twice saving free-kicks from Kieran MacDonald. The Australian also had to make a smart stop from Carrick’s low drive.
Raith also had chances with Liam Buchanan firing inches wide from a Furtado cross, while Vaughan saw an effort cleared off the line after goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson failed to clear his box with a punch.
The away side took the lead in the 44th minute when defender David Brownlie nodded a free-kick back across goal for an unmarked Carrick to bullet a header past Lennox.
Raith made a change shortly after half-time, replacing Buchanan with midfielder Scott Robertson and pushing Vaughan up front, and it paid dividends with an equaliser in the 64th minute.
Iain Davidson crept up from the back to lay the ball off to Furtado, whose 16-yard effort took a wicked deflection to loop over Ferguson and into the net.
The winner arrived with 13 minutes left when Dario Zanatta’s teasing low ball across the six-yard box left unmarked Vaughan with a tap-in for his 20th goal of the campaign.
Raith boss Barry Smith hailed his players for their second-half performance as they made it nine points from three games in seven days.
“It’s a great win, but there’s a long way to go,” he said.
“The fans saw in the second half the resilience and character that this team has got, and I think that’s why they got clapped off the park, because they saw so much effort after three games in a week, and how much the players were wanting to win.”
It’s a great win, but there’s a long way to go. BARRY SMITH