The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Comeback would make great TV, says Buchanan
RAITH ROVERS: Striker stunned as Nisbet nets winner in seven-goal thriller
“It was chaos. I think it just shows the character of the boys. It’s the result that is important.
“For the boys in the changing rooms it’s unbelievable what we’ve just done.
“Down to 10 men – especially 3-1 down with four minutes to go against a good Airdrie side – to come back in that manner shows a lot about us.”
The visitors were behind after only seven minutes when Diamonds winger Joao Victoria fired his shot into the bottom right corner, and the advantage was doubled when Victoria crossed for Dale Carrick to side-foot into the net.
Raith were gifted a route back into the game with 56 minutes played when a slack Ryan Conroy backpass was pounced upon by Buchanan who slid the ball home.
But as soon as things were looking up for the visitors, everything went wrong. First, Iain Davidson saw red for his head butt on Airdrie’s Grant Gallagher, then Victoria restored the hosts’ two-goal lead as he smashed a shot in off the crossbar.
But Rovers weren’t out of the game yet, Buchanan latching onto a Kevin Nisbet through ball and slotting home to reduce the deficit with three minutes remaining.
The Kirkcaldy side levelled things in the first minute of stoppage time when Nisbet rifled home from just outside the area after Buchanan’s lay-off.
And the drama continued in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Chris Duggan worked some space on the left and crossed into a packed penalty area where Nisbet got the final touch to send the ball over the line, sparking wild celebrations from Rovers players, fans and staff.
Buchanan added: “It is something to build on, the confidence should be sky high going into training this week.
“But it’s done now, it’s three points and we look forward to next week now, it means nothing if we don’t build on it. They are all tough games in this league.
“If you don’t work hard and put the effort in, you won’t win football matches. I feel we’ve got a very talented squad but we must be prepared to do the hard work.”
Airdrie boss Stevie Findlay said: “You can’t defend like that. We were fairly comfortable – we make the mistake to go to 2-1 and the defending in the last eight minutes of the game I just can’t believe.
“When you defend that poorly it costs you. We’re angry – it’s frustrating and it’s a tough one to take but that is the nature of the beast in football.”