Brown’s brilliant volley seals huge Rovers win
Scott Brown’s arrival at Ayr as manager has dominated the headlines in the Championship recently but he needs to make way for his namesake at Raith Rovers, whose quite outrageous volley breathed new life into the title race.
On a thrilling Friday night in Kirkcaldy, Ian Murray’s Raith defeated league leaders Dundee United 2-1 at jampacked Stark’s Park to move to within a point of the summit. Rovers had been on a five-game losing run prior to this match but this victory will give them renewed vigour in beating Jim Goodwin’s Tangerines to the punch.
Their winner came from the most unlikely of outlets. Club captain Brown came on as a substitute on 74 minutes to shore up the midfield as United pressed for a winner. But when Dylan Easton’s free-kick was only cleared to the 29-year-old some 25 yards out, the ex-clyde man belted an unstoppable volley beyond Jack Walton. It was a goal fit to win any match and one his namesake would have been proud of in his Celtic pomp.
"We were finding it a wee bit hard in the second half, but to come on and score the winner was really special,” said Brown at full-time. “We have been through a wee sticky patch, but it was a great way to answer it tonight.”
This was a huge match for Murray and his team. Rightly lauded for their performances for much of this season as they kept pace with United at the top, they have fallen away since winning 1-0 at Tannadice in December. This was not the last roll of the dice for Raithbutwithaheartycrowd of nearly 8,000 in attendance, there was no underplaying the significance of this game – for both teams.
It will be a punch in the guts for Goodwin and United, who after falling behind early to a fast Raith start, eased their way back into it and were the better team for the majority of proceedings. But
what they didn’t do was capitalise when in the ascendancy and paid the price in spectacular fashion.
The opening exchanges were played at a ferocious tempo. An early goal felt inevitable and it arrived on eight minutes. United failed to clear a Liam Dick throw-in sufficiently, the ball returned to the left-back and his cross was flicked in via the bar by Zak Rudden. The 24-year-old appeared marginally offside but the Dundee loanee cared not a jot and wasn’t shy in celebrating in front of the subdued travelling fans.
United levelled on 38 minutes. Like Raith’s goal, there was an element of dubiety about it. David Wotherspoon’s corner found Ross Graham and his header back across goal was glanced in by Louis Moult. However, Graham’s flailing arm caught Dick as they jostled for the header, not that Raith protested much, and a captivating first half ended all square.
The game quietened down in the second half and became scrappier. United looked more composed, while Rovers had deflated. They were struggling to create anything meaningful.
The home fans called for the introduction of maverick winger Easton, who was the matchwinner last time out at Tannadice. Murray duly obliged, knowing his team required something different to alter this game’s direction of travel. He played his part with the set-piece that led to Brown thrashing home his howitzer, his first goal of the season.
There was still time for United to try and grab an equaliser in stoppage time but Kevin Dabrowski beat away a Kevin Holt header. This was Raith's night.