No knockout stages for Raith after derby victory

Raith Rovers won this tight Fife derby but it wasn’t enough to get them through to the knockout stages of the Betfred Cup.

The on-form Kirkcaldy men finished runners-up to Group A winners Hearts on eight points but failed to qualify as one of the best runners-up after a Mane Duku goal settled the tussle at Central Park.

Rovers’ assistant boss Paul Smith was happy with the result, although disappointed not to make the next stage of the competition.

He said: “Injuries left us short of a few players and we had to play a few lads out of position.

“I felt we looked fairly comfortable though for most of the match but it is never an easy place to come to and later in the game they had a couple of decent chances, although I felt we merited the win.

“It is disappointing not to ge t through to the knockout stages but it was a highly competitive group.”

Cowden manager Gary Bollan s aw plenty to

encourage him: “I felt it was a pretty good performance against a team that is sitting at the top of the Championship.

“Defensively we were very sound and Brad Smith had a really good chance in the first period and there were a couple of good openings later in the game, but we needed to take these.

“Clearly it was a very difficult group for us but we competed well in every game and conceded only four goals against three

Championship teams and a League 1 side and that is the sort of defending we need to repeat in our league campaign.”

Raith had the better of the early exchanges and Ethan Ross almost scored direct from a corner then Duku forced a good save from Cowdenbeath keeper Ross Sinclair.

However, in 35 minutes Raith went in front. Duku held o ff Ja m i e To d d ’s challenge and fired a superb shot past Sinclair from 10 yards.

Smith came close to levelling for Cowden before the break but couldn’t get any pace behind his shot to beat Robbie Thomson.

The second period saw both sides have chances with Duku, Fr a n k i e Musonda and Dylan Tait going close for Raith, but at the other end Kian Kavanagh twice fired wide from six yards and Craig Barr missed with a free header at a corner.

Cowden are waiting for news on whether or not this Saturday’s game with Albion Rovers will go ahead after the Coatbridge men conceded their Betfred Cup tie at Hamilton after two players tested positive for Covid-19.

Derby hero Mane Duku.