Raith take plaudits but Lions’ pride remains intact
RAITH ROVERS left the Tony Macaroni Arena with plaudits and pride, but a place in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup went to Livingston.
The second-tier promotion hopefuls gave the Lions a fright after deservedly taking the lead through Lewis Vaughan’s stunning 13th-minute free-kick.
Jack Fitzwater dashed Rovers’ hopes of an upset with a 70th-minute equaliser before substitute Matej Poplatnik hit the winner in the 109th minute.
Livingston manager David Martindale heaped praise on their opponents and believes Raith, who are currently second in the Championship, are good enough to play in the top flight.
He said: ‘I thought we deserved to win, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Raith Rovers in the Premiership next year. I think they’d be a fantastic addition.
‘The average age of their squad, if you take away Kyle Benedictus, Iain Davidson and Jamie
MacDonald, they have a right good young squad. It’s a testament to the job John and his staff have done.
‘There was a 10 or 15-minute spell where we struggled to get to grips with them a little bit. It gave them a lift and they popped the ball about for fun.’
After Raith midfielder Dylan
Tait knocked Nicky Devlin’s header off the line, the visitors stormed ahead after with a stunning set-piece from Vaughan.
The striker, who grabbed a brace in Tuesday’s thrashing of Dunfermline, caught out keeper Robby McCrorie at his near post with an effort that flew over the wall from 20 yards.
Rovers’ intensity and attacking verve continued to cause the home team problems. Reghan Tumilty squeezed between Livingston pair Alan Forrest and Jackson Longridge at the corner of the box but his fierce near-post drive was beaten behind by McCrorie.
Regan Hendry then drilled an 18-yard effort straight at the on-loan Rangers shot-stopper.
If there were question marks over McCrorie for Vaughan’s free-kick then the keeper made up for it in first-half injury time with a fingertip save to keep out Tumilty’s half-volley.
Rovers midfielder Tait found himself in the right place at the right time again at the start of the second half as he cleared Lions’ left-back Longridge’s deflected drive off the line.
The home side kept up the pressure and got their reward in the 70th minute with an equaliser from Fitzwater. Josh Mullin’s corner was headed back across goal by Jon Guthrie and the defender angled a half-volley into the net from 10 yards.
Extra-time was a tense affair but Livingston sealed the win with Poplatnik’s 109th-minute strike.
Devlin was the creator after racing into the box before pulling back for the substitute to find the gaping goal.
Rovers boss John McGlynn admits his team ran out of steam following a run of eight games in just under four weeks.
He said: ‘Maybe it is just that all the games we’ve had recently have caught up with one or two of us, whereas Livingston’s players were fresh.
‘But there are loads and loads of positives to take. Livingston are sitting fifth in the Premiership, we’ve come to their patch and, over 90 minutes, it’s 1-1.
‘The last time they played here, it was 1-1 with Hibs, so that speaks volumes for our players.
‘We’ve now got five league games to go, we’re sitting in second position in the Championship and we want to consolidate that position.’