Rovers rule the Kingdom as McGlynn’s men march on
Dunfermline
Raith Rovers win 2-0 on aggregate
RAITH Rovers took a significant step forward in their unlikely quest to bring their 25-year exile from the top flight to a close after a 2-0 win over Dunfermline sent John McGlynn’s men through to the play-off semi-finals, where they’ll meet Championship runners-up Dundee.
The Fife rivals played out an entertaining goalless draw at East End Park earlier in the week and yesterday’s encounter was another cagey one, until goals from Lewis Vaughan and Gozie Ugwu booked Raith’s passage to the semis next week.
“I am delighted with the attitude, commitment, the way we played and defended. We are delighted to be in the semifinal,” said a buoyant McGlynn after the full-time whistle. “I’m extremely proud of them over the two legs.
“I can’t give them enough praise and credit, they have been fantastic this season.
“We have picked up two or three injuries again which won’t make it any easier. But we are happy to be in the semifinal and bring it on.”
It was a wet and windy afternoon in Kirkcaldy, so perhaps it was understandable that both sides struggled to get their foot on the ball early on as it skidded across the slick artificial surface at Stark’s Park.
The first incident of note occurred when a harmlesslooking ball lumped forward by the Pars defence took an unfortunate deflection off the back of Kyle Benedictus, falling invitingly to the feet of Kevin O’Hara 40 yards from goal. The forward skipped forward before testing Jamie MacDonald with a venomous low drive, but the one-time Hearts goalie was alert to the danger and got down quickly to smother the ball.
Raith were looking a little sloppy in possession and whenever they were robbed of the ball in midfield, there was always a flurry of black-andwhite shirts surging forward to join the attack. The early momentum was all with Stevie Crawford’s side but they failed to capitalise on their early dominance.
Craig Wighton really should have nudged the visitors ahead around the half-hour mark when he slalomed his way past Benedictus to burst into the box for a one-onone, only to be denied by the onrushing MacDonald who narrowed the angle. Within minutes, Danny Armstrong nodded over a superb Kieran MacDonald cross at the other end as the two rivals searched desperately for supremacy. The three league meetings between the two Fife clubs might have produced 15 goals but after 135 minutes of this play-off quarter-final, it remained goalless.
The game became frenzied and frenetic in the second half as the two sides upped the intensity. The Pars started strongly without really testing MacDonald.
A first-time Reghan Tumilty shot from the edge of the area looked to take a nick on its way through the throng of bodies between the right-back and the goal, with Owain Fon Williams spilling the tricky-to-handle shot. Vaughan, lurking around the six-yard box, reacted first to reach the ball, take a touch and chip the ball home from a few yards out.
Jamie Gullan nearly had the game sewn up 10 minutes from the end but his ambitious, 30yard strike whistled past the woodwork on its way behind for a goal kick. Vaughan then had a pop moments later after doing well to fashion some space but like his team-mate, the striker narrowly missed the target.
It was all primed for a nervy finish at Stark’s Park but Ugwu clearly didn’t get the memo. The big centre-forward had only been on the park for about five minutes before he latched onto a hopefully punt from the back, taking the ball in his stride before lashing a thumping half-volley past Fon Williams and into the back of the net. For Crawford, the defeat capped a campaign that initially promised so much but ultimately didn’t deliver.
He said: “We’ve come here and created opportunities. But if you don’t score goals, you don’t win games and that’s the harsh reality.
“You live and learn and that’s what I have just said to the players. We were facing different things in life with Covid and they have been a credit to themselves this season. What I have got to do is make sure physically and mentally that I clear my head and get away from it all for a couple of days and then look to progress this club. The first task in terms of that is recruitment and making sure we get boys that want to play for Dunfermline.”