Raith now fighting for survival, says captain

rovers: Thomson calls for ‘courage on the ball’ as Ayr close gap at the bottom

RAITH ROVERS 1 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 1

Raith Rovers captain Jason Thomson admitted that the Kirkcaldy side are deeper in relegation trouble after the 1-1 draw with Queen of the South on Saturday.

The sides traded goals in the opening 25 minutes as Ryan Hardie’s early opener was cancelled out by Stephen Dobbie’s controversial free-kick leveller.

Thereafter, the game descended into a low-quality battle with neither side able to string passes together in a poor advert for Scottish Championship.

The result kept Queens three points ahead of Raith, while Ayr United’s victory over Dumbarton means the Kirkcaldy side are now just two points ahead of the relegation zone.

Thomson said: “It was a battle and if there’s any positive to take, it’s maybe that a month ago would have lost that. But even that isn’t good enough.

“We’re fighting for our lives now, and Ayr got a win so we’re back to where we were before the United game again.”

Thomson admitted that Raith will need to show more courage on the ball in the remaining games to drag themselves out of trouble.

“It takes somebody just to bring that ball down and be a bit braver,” he said.

“It sounds a bit silly to say a footballer should be brave to take the ball but it wasn’t happening. It just turned into a battle.

“The manager has touched on it. We haven’t been playing good football so we need to be the best in the league with the foundations – first and second balls – but we weren’t even great at that, which is a worry.

Raith fielded the same starting XI that defeated Dundee United the previous week and things started well with Hardie opening the scoring on nine minutes, with his sixth goal since rejoining the club on loan from Rangers in January.

Thomson started the move, releasing the striker into the box, and Hardie showed great composure to side-step the defender before rolling a cool finish under the advancing Lee Robinson.

A brave block from Craig Barr prevented Joseph Thomson from a certain goal but there was nothing the Raith defence could do about Queen’s debatable equaliser on 24 minutes.

The visitors won a free-kick 20 yards out and Dobbie’s effort crashed off the inside of the post, and rolled across the goal line before being cleared.

However, the Railway Stand assistant awarded the goal, ruling that the ball had spun across the line and back out again, much to the consternation of the Raith players.

There was hardly a chance of note thereafter as both sets of players struggled to show any composure on the ball, with the second 45 one of the most boring halves of football witnessed anywhere this season.

Rovers manager John Hughes wasn’t impressed with the performance.

“To win a game at home we have to be better than that,” he said.

“I’ve seen us play with more intensity and higher energy levels.

Picture: SNS. Ryan Hardie’s goal against the Doonhamers was his sixth since returning to Rovers.