Pars slip and slide out of Scottish Cup in Raith loss
Scottish Cup Third Round Dunfermline Athletic 0 Raith Rovers 3
CHRIS HAMILTON said there were “no excuses” and admitted he and his Pars pals were “not quite good enough” as they crashed to a dispiriting derby defeat.
Ruthless Raith Rovers earned their third successive win over their neighbours at KDM Group East End Park on Friday evening as Dunfermline’s Scottish Cup hopes were left in tatters.
For the fifth time in six seasons, they were dumped out of the competition at the first hurdle, and the Kirkcaldy side have inflicted two of those exits.
In 2019, then League One Rovers inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Athletic at Stark’s Park in round four, and they claimed victory by the same scoreline against their Championship rivals in the third round of this season’s competition.
Jack Hamilton’s first half goal was added to by two goals in five second half minutes by Sam Stanton and Lewis Vaughan, whilst Lewis McCann saw a late penalty saved by Kevin Dabrowski in the Raith goal.
“Disappointing. Really disappointing,” was skipper for the night Hamilton’s post-match thoughts.
“It wasn’t what we set out to do, not what we expect of ourselves, so a bad night all night, and just not quite good enough.
“They are a good team, we know they are a good team. If you are not at it 100 per cent, then they have the players to hurt you. That’s what they did. They were clinical with the chances that they got, and we maybe weren’t quite at it, for one reason or another.
“We know that’s not good enough. There are no excuses. We are a good team, we know we are a good team, and we need to go out on the pitch and prove that - go out with a point to prove in every game. We just struggled to get going tonight.”
Having struck the woodwork when Vaughan diverted a Hamilton effort onto the post, Raith took the lead after 15 minutes when the latter tapped in from close range after Dylan Easton’s fine run into the penalty area set up the chance.
Ian Murray’s team were then in control, save for a brief 10 minute spell after the break, when home boss James McPake introduced Kane Ritchie-Hosler and Matty Todd to the action.
Clear chances were in short supply, though, and when Sam Fisher was harshly penalised for a tackle in 65 minutes, a free-kick into the Pars box wasn’t dealt with, with ball falling kindly to Stanton to score his third goal in as many derby games.
Five minutes after that, the tie was over when Vaughan, after Owen Moffat was adjudged to have fouled Ross Millen, whipped a free-kick over the wall and beyond Deniz Mehmet from the right-hand side of the penalty area.
There would not even be a consolation goal for Dunfermline, with McCann’s spot-kick was saved with 10 minutes to go after a foul was given against Daniel O’Reilly on Fisher, and McPake had no complaints about the final outcome.
“I think the scoreline reflects exactly what we deserved out the game. Raith were the better team on the night,” he commented. I’ve been the one that’s maybe stood here a couple of times, here and at Stark’s
Park, and said we didn’t get out the game what we probably deserved, but certainly tonight we got exactly what we deserved.”
Pars: Mehmet, Comrie, Fisher, Hamilton, Otoo (Wighton 77), Edwards, Chalmers (Ritchie-Hosler 52), Allan, Moffat, Jakubiak (Todd 52), McCann. Subs not used: Fenton, O’Halloran, Little. Booked: Otoo (64).
Raith Rovers: Dabrowski, Millen, Connolly, Vaughan, Smith (McGill 86), Mullin, Stanton, Hamilton (Gullan 78), Brown, Easton, O’Reilly. Subs not used: Corr, Hannah, Thomson. Goals: Hamilton (15), Stanton (65), Vaughan (70). Booked: Hamilton (54), Smith (57), Connolly (81). Referee: Willie Collum. Attendance: 5,243.