Fri 6th January / 19:45 / 2022-23 / / home
Raith Rovers vs Dundee
Preview
After starting their year off with a win against Hamilton on Monday, Raith Rovers face a quick turnaround, with Dundee next up at Stark’s Park on Friday evening.
The two sides go into this one on the back of contrasting results at the start of the week, with a Jamie Gullan goal enough for Rovers to take all three points at New Douglas Park, while Gary Bowyer’s side were surprisingly going down at home to Arbroath.
Dundee had been top of the table going into that one, but despite fighting back from two goals down to restore parity, and playing over half the game with 10 men, they eventually lost 4-2, a result which enabled Queen’s Park to leapfrog them at the top of the table.
However, if Rovers are to come out on top against the Taysiders, they’ll have to do something they’ve failed to do in two previous meetings with Dundee this term, and manage to score.
Dundee were the winners the last time they visited Kirkcaldy in August, when despite a strong Rovers performance, they were unable to comeback from Josh Mulligan’s 13th minute opener which decided the game.
Dundee went one better the last time the two sides met in November, when two goals early in the second period from Zach Robinson eased the Dee to a 2-0 win.
Friday night’s match referee will be Craig Napier.
Head-to-Head Record:
Raith Rovers wins: 35
Dundee wins: 76
Draws: 36
Reports
This game started with high intensity from Raith, with the fans at Stark's Park matching the intensity they were seeing from the players on the pitch. Raith had the large majority of the possession early in the game without creating many clear chances with the first half chance for Raith coming after Dylan Easton played the ball to Scott Brown on the edge of the box where he shot just past the post.
The home side continued to dominate the game, however in the 34th minute Dundee got a lucky break of the ball after the ball flicked off of Brad Spencer’s head falling to McMullan which led to him running through 1 - on - 1 with Jamie MacDonald but it was put wide.
Shortly after the McMullan chance Raith took the lead after Liam Dick smashed the ball across the goal for Aidan Connolly to tap in. Raith 1-0 Dundee.
Raith didn’t just settle with holding on to the lead, they wanted a second goal which they almost got just before half-time with a strong penalty claim after Dylan Easton played a perfect defence splitting pass to find Aidan Connolly. Shouts for the goalscorer being brought down were waved away by the referee. HT Raith 1-0 Dundee.
Dundee started the second half extremely well, with a big chance coming in the first minute of the half being fantastically saved by Jamie MacDonald.
Dundee continued to pile on a large amounts of pressure on the Raith defence, leading to a couple of decent chances - one of them hitting the inside of the post and rebounding into Jamie MacDonald’s hands.
The Dens Park side had a large number of corners in quick succession, and the pressure would soon pay off for Dundee in the 78th minute when McGhee headed past Jamie MacDonald to equalise. Raith 1-1 Dundee.
Raith managed to stop the Dundee momentum in the last 10 minutes but couldn’t find the elusive winning goal, therefore the game ended as a very entertaining 1-1 draw.
Photos
All the pictures from the 1-1 draw with Dundee at Stark's Park.
PICTURES © TONY FIMISTER & JIM FOY
Highlights
Interviews
Ian Murray spoke to RaithTV after the draw with Dundee FC: