Club 19/10/2017
Dev League: Raith Rovers 3 – 2 Alloa Athletic
Match Report
Central Park, Kelty, October 18th 2017
Rovers go back to the top of the table in a game of two halves.
With barely a minute on the clock Chris Smith in goal for the visitors miss-hit a pass-back, Yaw Osei was in the right place to run on, to round Smith and stroke the ball into the net from 3 yards 1-0
Alloa had barely settled back into the game when Kyle Bell on the left found Yaw Osei outside the box, he slipped his marker and hit the ball across Smith and into the net from 10 yards 2-0
Rovers looked to extend the lead with Stevenson’s 30 yarder being held by Smith, Court having a close range shot blocked and a Dall header slipping agonisingly just wide of the post.
Despite the Rovers onslaught, Alloa started to come back into the game and pressed up the park, in between spells of Alloa passing play, Dall hit a couple of shots narrowly wide.
Rovers had absorbed Alloa pressure well but a lapse at the back allowed Ronan Kearney space and he side footed the ball past Brian from 6 yards to reduce the deficit 2-1
Rovers pressed from the restart with Valentine crossing from near the corner giving Smith a scare with the ball scudding along the crossbar.
The ball was returned from the kick out with Dall playing on Osei, Yaw who was on a hat-trick unselfishly played the 1-2 and Kieran Dall thundered the ball across Smith and in at the back post 3-1
The dust had barely settled from the fourth restart when Alloa crossed the ball into the box, David McKay attempted a clearance but a cruel miss-hit saw the ball sail past Brian and into the net to narrow the lead again 3-2
The second half was not a pretty affair with the ‘Home’ side suffering from slack passing and rueing missed opportunities whilst in possession, this was the same for Alloa.
Rovers managed forays with Court and birthday boy Kyle Bell having half chances cleared.
Alloa looked the more likely to score with Sinclair coming close with shots from open play and a set piece.
Development Squad Head Coach Craig Easton said after the match “The three points puts us one point clear at the top of the league after the first cycle of games which is very pleasing.
In the opening 25 mins of the game we played on the front foot and at a really high tempo and there were lots of positives in terms on things we’ve been working on from an attacking perspective.
Our second and third goals were excellent finishes after some really good play and I’m delighted for both Yaw and Kieran getting on the scoresheet.
To be fair to Alloa, they recovered well and we got a little bit complacent defensively which made it a more difficult game than it could’ve been. I was actually happier with last weeks overall performance even though it was a defeat, but it was pleasing to see the lads so determined to win this game and go back to the top of the league.”
Raith Rovers | Alloa Athletic |
Rory Brian | Chris Smith |
Josh MacDonald | Steven Smith (86) |
Euan Valentine | Keir MacKenzie |
James Berry | Keiran Connolly |
David McKay | Scott Cameron |
Trialist B | Sam Fisher |
Kyle Bell | Jack Pow |
Ryan Stevenson | Nathan Fell |
Yaw Osei | Scott Sinclair |
Johnny Court (77) | Carlo Pignatiello |
Kieran Dall (70) | Ronan Kearney |
sub: Fionn McLeod Kay (77) | sub: Mitchell Reid |
sub: Trialist A (70) | sub: Niall Burns |
sub: Lewis Crosbie | sub: Paul Fee (86) |
sub: Ross Hain | sub: Louis Kennedy |
sub: Christopher Peden(GK) | sub: Ryan Cairns |
sub: Myles Wilson | |
sub: Chris Wylie(GK) |
Remember, RRFC Season Ticket holders get free entry to all Development League games. View the Development League (East) Fixture list & Table here.
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