Scottish Cup run ended by Raith
STIRLING ALBION .............................................. 0 RAITH ROVERS ................................................... 2
Raith Rovers proved too strong for Stirling in Tuesday’s Scottish Cup second-round tie at Forthbank to book a trip to Livingston in round three a week on Saturday.
The Binos had beaten Berwick Rangers 3-0 in round one back on Boxing Day and this tie was originally due to be played on January 9 but was frozen off, then the competition itself went into cold storage for two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It was the first meeting of the teams since 2014/15 when Rovers won 2-0 here in the Scottish Cup and it was the same outcome in midweek thanks to goals from Gozie Ugwu and Dylan Tait.
The Kirkcaldy club went into this tie sitting second in the Championship while Albion were second in League 2 after beating Brechin City 1-0 at the weekend.
Kevin Rutkiewicz made eight changes to the team, with on-loan Darvel defender Daryll Meggatt making his debut. Dylan Bikey and Cammy Thomson again missed out through injury and Paul McLean was also sidelined but Jack Leitch returned from suspension.
Stark’s Park boss John McGlynn made five changes to the side who drew 1-1 with Ayr United but it was still a strong-looking line-up, which included on-loan Rangers midfielder Kai Kennedy.
Stirling competed well in the first half and almost reached the interval on level terms but Ugwu broke the deadlock and it was all over when Tait grabbed the second with 20 minutes left.
Albion were unable to carve out too many chances and it was a quiet night for keeper Jamie MacDonald but the hosts did have a wonderful opportunity to take the lead after 13 minutes.
Leitch sent Kieran Moore clear but Saturday’s matchwinner never looked confident and fired his shot wide with just MacDonald to beat. It was a big moment and there was another scare for the visitors when Sean Heaver sent in a cross from the right but it was eventually scrambled clear.
On-loan Hibs striker Jamie Gullan and Kennedy both came close for Rovers before Blair Currie made a fine stop from Adam King as the pressure mounted.
The breakthrough came just before the interval when Tait’s corner from the left was met at the back post by Ugwu and the former Dunfermline striker found the net with a downward header.
Tait missed a good chance to seal the tie shortly after half-time but he put the game beyond doubt in 70 minutes when he met a fantastic cross from Reghan Tumilty to head past Currie from six yards.
Stirling Albion: Currie, McGeachie (Allan 56), El Zubaidi, Meggatt, Banner, Hamilton, Heaver, Wilson (Kirkpatrick 56), Mackin, Leitch, Moore (S Roberts 77). Subs not used: Binnie (GK), McGregor, Docherty, K Roberts, Byrne, Ryan.
Raith Rovers: J MacDonald, Tumilty, K MacDonald, Benedictus, Spencer, Musonda, Tait, Kennedy (Armstrong 80), Ugwu (Vaughan 71), King, Gullan (Abraham 90). Subs not used: Thomson (GK), Hendry, Duku, Matthews.