Raith Rovers FC vs Ayr United FC | Raith Rovers Football Club

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Raith Rovers slipped out of the Championship’s top four on Saturday after losing 2-0 to Ayr United at Starks Park.

Two first-half goals from Ayr gave the visitors a solid platform from which to see out the match, with Raith barely threatening their opponent’s goal on the afternoon.

Barry Robson made one change to the team that succumbed to a 2-0 defeat away to Ross County one week earlier, with Paul McMullan retaking his place in the Starting eleven for Kai Montagu.

Raith started the match in promising fashion as they moved deep into the final third, but some calm defending from Ayr muted any threat. It didn’t take long for the visitors to grow into the match and, just twelve minutes in, their first goal was notched after a cut back to the near post was neatly slotted away by Mark McKenzie.

Ayr continued to push forward in the aftermath of their opener, with Dylan Watret missing a good chance from six yards to double his side’s lead just ten minutes later.

The Honest Men wouldn’t have to wait much longer for their second however, after a deep freekick into Rovers’ box resulted in a barging challenge on Ayr’s Marco Rus. There was a severe lack of protest in the home end as Referee Duncan Nicolson pointed to the spot, with frustration quickly becoming the overall sentiment. Josh Rae dived the right way, but Jamie Murphy’s penalty was tucked too far into the bottom left corner for the goalkeeper to make a difference. Raith trailed by two with just over half an hour on the clock.

Raith swapped McMullan for Kai Montagu at halftime, but the team continued to struggle to create any meaningful chances as the half went on.

Multiple Ayr players went down with injuries throughout the second half, which resulted in multiple stoppages. An irritated home end only grew more audible, but Ayr continued to see the match out well.

The visitors should probably have scored a third after a quick counter-attacking move gave Ethan Walker a free shot on goal from just inside the area. The winger’s postage-stamp effort looked good, but the crossbar ultimately denied the attempt on goal.

One of Raith’s few positives of the day came in the form of Callum Smith, who marked his return from an eleven-month-long injury spell. Smith entered to a cheer, alongside Lewis Stevenson and Shaun Byrne in the 70th minute.

Raith’s best chance of the afternoon came in the 76th minute, after a stramash in the box allowed Dylan Easton to get a shot away as goalkeeper David Mitchell recovered. Two Ayr defenders manned the goal line, but they weren’t called into action in the end after Easton’s effort bounced harmlessly wide of the mark.

The match drew to a close after a lengthy amount of injury time, which resulted in a disdainful chorus of complaints from the home supporters that had stuck around until the final whistle.

Ayr leapfrog Raith into the top four with this result, with a game in hand in their favour.

Next up, Raith travel to East End Park this Friday to face 7th placed Dunfermline in the season’s second Fife Derby.

Written by Hamish Rankine.