The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Rovers blown away by Coyle’ s deadly Spiders
Ian Murray struggled to sum up a bizarre 90 minutes which saw his side lose 5-2 to Queen’s Park in the Scottish Championship.
Aidan Connolly opened the scoring and added a consolation late on for Raith, but in between those the visitors scored with each of their five shots on target.
Simon Murray and Dom Thomas scored a double each and midfielder Jack Thomson got the other.
Rovers had around 20 efforts at goal, 13 of them on target, but they were wasteful, especially towards the end.
At one point Queen’s cleared the ball off the line three times in the same Rovers attack, leaving the home bench at a loss as to what else they could do.
“It’s a very tough balancing act because we have to look at the negatives and try to take some positives,” said Murray.
“The negative is you lose five goals. How you lose them to some people is immaterial because if you lose five at home you aren’t going to win, you aren’t going to get anything out the game normally.
“But we have to also recognise how they got to those positions on the park to get shots off.
“Then you have to look at it from our side – 21 shots, two goals. We need to be better.
“I felt we went into our shell when they scored their second, and they scored their third.
“We actually came alive when they scored their fourth because at that point you’ve got literally nothing to lose.”
One of the positives was a return to the starting line-up for Lewis Vaughan.
The forward led the line in his first start since July last year.
“He lasted the game and he was really, really good,” said Murray.
“He was very unfortunate not to score at least one goal. He’s come through it and that’s a huge plus for us all.
“But he’s part of a team that’s lost the game today, so that’s his main disappointment at the moment. We all have to try to take some positives.
“It’s easy for people to look at the scoreline and think it was a hiding. The scoreline, yeah, but on play it wasn’t – but we need to be a bit better.”
It had been 16 months, 70 matches, 475 days since Vaughan last started a match – a remarkable 4-4 draw with Hamilton on July 31 2021.
He was understandably “gutted” at Saturday’s result, and the manner of the defeat, but it was impossible to escape the significance of his first start in that time.
“It felt good, I felt fine,” said Vaughan.
“My leg is feeling strong. From a personal point of view, I’m just delighted to get through my first 90 minutes.”
The 26-year-old said Murray was constantly checking on him from the sidelines.
Vaughan added: “I just wanted to get through the 90 minutes and get that first start out the way. I felt strong and that’s probably the only positive I can take from the game. I’m looking forward to next week.”
Vaughan was involved in Rovers’ opening goal and came close to getting on the scoresheet in the second half.
His contribution was one of the few positives for the Rovers boss.
After answering questions on his personal achievements, the forward could not hide his disappointment at the outcome.
“I was absolutely gutted with the result,” he said.
“I don’t think we deserved it in all honesty.
“I thought it was a pretty even game. For the first 20 minutes we were on top.
“Some of us are in disbelief in there, but if you don’t take your chances, you get punished.”
Murray said Dylan Easton missed the match after feeling discomfort earlier in the days before and he will be monitored over the next couple of weeks.
Queen’s Park manager Owen Coyle said his side were “ruthless” in the game.
“We know when we’re at our best we can stand toe to toe with the best teams in the division,” he added.