Fri 19th April / 19:45 / Championship 23/24 / Caledonian Stadium / away
Inverness CT vs Raith Rovers
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Report
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0 – 1 Raith Rovers
History made as Raith take six points from six in the Highlands.
Raith managed to beat Inverness for the second time on the road this season, in a battling affair which required both defensive and goalkeeping heroics to clinch all three points through a 1-0 scoreline.
Ian Murray made several changes for this Friday night fixture, with 19-year-old centre half Dylan Corr getting his third league start of the season as Keith Watson was rested on the bench. Raith forwards Lewis Vaughan and Jack Hamilton were also in from the start, having both made substitute appearances in the goalless draw against Partick just 6 days prior.
Kick-off
The opening couple of minutes saw Caley Thistle threaten the Raith goal with a flurry of chances, before Raith started a few attacks of their own. After an end-to-end start to the match, the evening remained goalless.
Caley started to dominate, but Raith managed to survive an onslaught of free-kicks and corners due to some smart defending and good goalkeeping.
Caley continued their attacking efforts however, and forced an absolute wonder-save from Kevin Dabrowski after Harper’s effort cannoned off the Raith bar. Dabrowski, still recovering from the effort on goal, got back to his feet and miraculously managed to block the close-range rebound with his outstretched foot. The score remained level.
After surviving more corners from Inverness, Raith had a few chances to get some shots on goal but just couldn’t find the target. The subsequent half-time whistle signalled the end of a goalless half.
Half Time
Raith emerged for the second half with two changes to the team, with Dylan Easton and Shaun Byrne replacing James Brown and his recently booked namesake, Scott.
Raith started the half strong, with Dylan Easton coming close after a dazzling run resulted in a saved shot on goal from a tight angle. Inverness cleared, but only as far as Smith, who managed to hook the ball back towards the danger zone. The ball found Murray, who deftly headed it over the Inverness defence and into the path of Lewis Vaughan. Raith’s top goal scorer comfortably struck the ball past the on-rushing Ridgers, scoring his 16th of the season and giving Raith the lead no more than 5 minutes into the second half.
Both teams made changes and Caley again came incredibly close, but were denied once again by Kevin Dabrowski through yet another wonder save. Seconds later, Caley hit the bar twice in quick succession, upping their “hit the woodwork count” to 4 for the evening.
Inverness started to throw caution to the wind as they desperately searched for a goal. Raith fans held their breath as Ridgers made his way up the pitch for a late Caley Thistle corner. The Inverness keeper, perhaps out of habit, met the ball with his hands and ended Inverness’s last attempt of the evening, with the full-time whistle being sounded just a minute later.
Full Time
With this evening’s result, this means Raith have taken six out of six points from inverness for the first time ever, after failing to win at the Caledonian stadium for over 21 years prior to this season. The Rovers now have a week to prepare for their last away match of the league season against Morton FC.
MOTM – Kevin Dabrowski
Written By Hamish Rankin
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