Below par performance sees Rovers slump to back-to-back defeats

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AITH crashed to back-to-back defeats and missed the chance to go second top when goals from Tomi Adeloye and Mark Mckenzie ended Ayr’s run of nine league games without a win.

A below par performance was a carry-on from last week’s 1-0 defeat by Partick Thistle which ended a 15game unbeaten run.

Boss John Mcglynn admitted: “It wasn’t good enough from us and we made errors that we’ve not been guilty of in recent weeks.

“There was a lot of huffing and puffing. It’s a bad day for us and having gone 15 games unbeaten we’ve now had back-toback defeats.

“It’s important not to overreact and we’ll look to get back on track in the big derby game at the weekend.”

Raith had managed only one goal in their last four games – a Dario Zanatta penalty to beat Kilmarnock – but that miserable run continued with yet another blank.

Christophe Berra was banned after seeing red in the loss to Partick while Aaron Arnott dropped down to the bench with Tom Lang and Ethon Varian drafted in.

Zanatta showed his pace with a quick break after 12 minutes but his progress was halted illegally by Jordan Houston who was booked for his bodycheck.

Ross Matthews got his head to a free-kick that was only half cleared but his effort didn’t carry enough power to threaten Aidan Mcadams.

However, it was Ayr who took the lead after 22 minutes. Reghan Tumilty was short with a pass and Adeloye pounced on his error and raced clear to slide a shot past Jamie Macdonald into the keeper’s left-hand corner for his 10th goal of the season.

Raith were living dangerously when Paddy Reading cut inside and lashed a shot off the underside of the bar from a difficult angle with Macdonald left clawing fresh air.

Ayr had looked eager from the start with loan pair James Maxwell and Steven Bradley keen to support Adeloye who proved a constant threat to the Rovers defence.

Bradley went close to doubling the lead on the hour with a shot that slammed into the sidenet.

Raith hit back immediately and Varian was only inches wide of Mcadams’ right-hand post after connecting perfectly with an Aidan Connolly free-kick.

It was see-saw action and a quick break by Andy Murdoch ended with a cut-back which Bradley lifted over the bar – a big let-off for Raith!

Ayr sealed victory with 14 minutes to go when Mckenzie lashed the ball high into the net from a Maxwell pass.

The winning margin could have been more – Adeloye had a penalty saved by Macdonald after Ross Matthews was booked for bringing down the striker.

Raith Rovers manager John Mcglynn.