GULLAN DOUBLE WINS IN WAR OVER ROSES
Nervy Raith keep their scalp and reach last 16
LINLITHGOW..0 RAITH ROV...2
RAITH survived a scare against East of Scotland battlers Rose to squeeze through to the last 16.
Jamie gullan’s 55th-minute strike, just minutes after he was denied the opener because of a controversial offside decision, helped see Rovers through and a second late on ensured there would be no grandstand finish.
Rovers boss Ian Murray said: “It was a really hard game. We’ve seen it a million times in the Cup – you come to a tight ground with a good atmosphere against a team with nothing to lose. We had to stand up to it and we did.
“Apart from the first five, six, seven minutes we dominated. We lacked quality in the first half but in the second half we were excellent. Jamie could have had four or five goals.”
Linithgow would have taken inspiration from Darvel’s heroics 24 hours earlier but the East of Scotland leaders could not repeat their west coast rivals’ upset.
Rose were energetic from the off but their enthusiasm spilled over with Greg Skinner booked after just three minutes for clattering into Rovers skipper Scott Brown.
Linlithgow who passed up a gilt-edged chance in the 30th minute. A long ball over the top saw Mark Stowe lift the ball over Tom Lang to leave himself one on one with Jamie MacDonald but he couldn’t convert.
Rovers finished the half on top as Liam Dick had a header tipped over from a corner.
Then Raith had a goal chalked off, given then ruled out again three minutes after the break.
gullan was clearly offside from a long ball but appeared to be played onside by Alex Webb’s header. The linesman flagged as the striker rolled the loose ball beyond Cammy Binnie in the Linlithgow goal. After consulting with his assistant, ref graham grainger signalled a goal. But after speaking again grainger ruled it out and gave offside.
gullan made up for his and his team’s frustration as he snatched the lead six minutes later. He sprinted on to a clipped pass over the top that tempted Binnie off his line and shot into the net from the touchline.
Dylan Easton clipped the far post with a curling cross-cumshot in the 58th minute.
Rose had to take chances as time ticked away. gullan struck the woodwork with 13 minutes left and was then denied by Binnie’s save. But he got his second just two minutes from time, rolling in a cool finish from Lang’s through ball.
Rose boss gordon Herd said: “We’re disappointed we didn’t show how much of a good footballing side we are but Raith’s quality shone through in the second half.”