WOULD LEW BELIEVE IT?
Comeback king the Rovers hero but it’s more Jags penalty pain
lewisvaughan continued his incredible return for Raith Rovers by firing them into the Premiership play-off final after a penalty shootout.
The 28-year-old frontman has suffered the depths of despair after FOUR ACL injuries stole four years of his career.
But the fans’ favourite moved to within 180 minutes of finally fulfilling the dream of playing top-flight football.
Blair Alston’s goals either side of Ross Matthews’ header in the first half had the tie firmly in the balance.
And it went right to the death – with Raith legend Vaughan keeping his cool with the decisive penalty.
Ian Murray’s men will face either St Johnstone or Ross County in the final, with the first leg at Stark’s Park on Thursday.
Raith made one change from Tuesday’s first leg at Firhill with injured Keith Watson replaced by Dylan Corr, while Jags boss Kris Doolan switched three.
Alston, whose goal to make it 2-1 had given Thistle belief ahead of last night’s second leg, replaced Ben Stanway.
Stuart Bannigan and Daniel O’Reilly came in for Lewis Neilson and Kerr McInroy.
A gloriously sunny evening in Kirkcaldy saw both teams feeling the heat in front of a packed Stark’s Park crowd.
The hosts forced a couple of early corners as they looked to extend their aggregate lead and there was brief panic among the Thistle ranks when the ball dropped to Sam Stanton, whose shot was blocked, before Raith captain Scott Brown’s tame effort crept wide.
Alston then tried his luck in spectacular fashion when he let fly from 40 yards but the ball dropped wide of the left post.
But the midfielder had better luck in 16 minutes when the Jags took a controversial lead. Scott Robinson’s shot was blocked by Euan Murray’s arm and ref Steven McLean booked the Raith defender, much to the hosts’ fury. Alston stepped up and, from 20 yards, whipped a fierce freekick that deflected off Brown and found the bottom-left corner.
Corr soon joined Murray in the referee’s book for a late challenge on Aidan Fitzpatrick as Raith’s fury grew.
But jeers turned to cheers when they levelled the game on the half-hour mark. Liam Dick’s cross from the left was perfect for Matthews to meet unmarked and head home.
Thistle looked to hit back and seven minutes before the break, Murray’s vital block deflected Robinson’s shot over the bar for a corner after Brian Graham had also been thwarted.
There was panic in Raith’s defence just before half-time when Robinson zipped a vicious shot across the face of goal.
But with the last kick of the
half, Thistle struck again when Graham headed the ball down and Robinson flicked it into Alston’s path.
His first shot was saved by Kevin Dabrowski but he converted the rebound.
Rovers were desperate for their own quick response after that kick in the guts and five minutes after the restart Brown tried his luck from the edge of the box but his effort sailed over.
Sam Stanton’s eyes lit up as he found space to charge forward. The Raith midfielder took aim from 25 yards but his shot did not trouble the visitors’ goal.
Brown then produced two incredible goalline clearances to deny the Firhill men. A corner from the left almost went all the way in at the back post before Dan O’Reilly’s shot was steered behind by the Raith skipper. Jags kept coming, McMillan seeing a header tipped over the bar by Rovers keeper Dabrowski.
Rovers striker Lewis Vaughan was next to threaten but he dragged his effort from inside the box wide of the far left post.
Brown, having saved his team at the other end of the pitch, then tried the spectacular on 67 minutes when he let fly but his shot sailed just over the bar and missed the top-right.
In a blow to Thistle, Alston was forced off and replaced by Kieran Ngwenya with just over 20 minutes remaining.
With 15 minutes to go, Dabrowski was forced to dive low to parry Harry Milne’s shot, albeit the angle was against the Thistle defender. Murray then had to head Robinson’s shot from 20 yards over the bar and out for a corner. Up the other end, Stanton’s shot appeared goalbound but Graham was in the right place to steer the ball behind. Thistle almost nicked it at the death but Graham somehow blazed over from just six yards out. Dabrowski pulled off two fine stops in extra time to take the game to a shoot-out where Brown and McMillan fluffed their lines, before Thistle’s Ricco Diack hit the post. That set-up Vaughan to smash home the winner and set off wild celebrations.