The Fife Cup – Played to a Finish Eventually….

The final of the Fife Cup was played out at Stark’s Park last night between Raith Rovers and Cowdenbeath FC.  Both teams fielded their 20s sides and Cowdenbeath ran out eventual winners, after a bizarre end to the match.

With only two minutes left to play and Cowdenbeath leading 2-1, the Stark’s Park floodlights failed, plunging the stadium into darkness. The referee told Club officials he would allow ten minutes to get the lights back on or he would abandon the match.  The Raith Rovers ground staff tried in vain to solve the problem in the allotted time but could not get the lights back on and the referee duly asked the players to return to their dressing rooms.

However, just as the last players left the pitch and most of the spectators had left the ground, the lights came on again!  Both sets of players and their coaches wanted to play the game to a finish and appealed to the referee to restart the game. After consulting an SFA official by telephone, he agreed he could and would play the remaining two minutes. The players then ran out again onto the pitch and played two minutes of football in front of an almost empty stadium. There were no goals or significant incidents and after only 120 seconds of football, the referee blew his whistle to formally end the Fife Cup final.  The trophy was duly presented to the victorious Cowdenbeath players.

Raith Rovers would like to apologise to supporters of both teams who attended the match for the unsatisfactory way the match ended and thank them for their patience as efforts were made to rectify the problem. The reason the lights failed is still unknown but will be investigated as a matter of urgency in coming days.

And finally, everyone at Raith Rovers would like to offer congratulations to the players and officials of Cowdenbeath FC on their victory.

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