Sat 25th January / 15:00 / Championship 24/25 / / home
Raith Rovers vs Falkirk
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Raith Rovers failed to repeat last week’s heroics after losing to Falkirk 2-0 on Saturday, meaning Barry Robson’s first match at Starks Park ends with defeat.
Robson stuck with the same starting 11 that defeated Falkirk just six days earlier in the Scottish Cup, but a new name appeared on the Raith bench – alongside a somewhat more familiar one. 21-year-old right back George Gitau featured on the team sheet after his loan from Middlesbrough was announced just 2 days earlier. Gitau joined fellow loanee Jamie Gullan on the subs list, who returns to the club for the Fifth time in his career.
McGlynn opted to make a couple of changes to the team that started against Raith last week, with Tom Lang and Calvin Miller getting the nod over Sean Mackie and Aidan Nesbitt.
Falkirk got the afternoon’s proceeding’s underway and wasted little time in opening the scoring after Ethan Ross won a free kick on the right touchline. Brad Spencer’s resultant ball to the back post went un-challenged – which left Liam Henderson to nod home from close range with just five minutes on the clock.
Falkirk continued to threaten as Raith attempted to work around their opponent’s high press. Ethan Ross had a chance to double Falkirk’s lead just five minutes after their opener, but his effort from 12 yards out narrowly flew over the bar.
Raith came close after a free kick into Falkirk’s box resulted in a mad scramble. Paul Hanlon managed to control the ball amidst the chaos, and dinked a ball over a sea of bodies and towards the Falkirk goal. Nicky Hogarth would have been powerless to stop the ball hitting the net, but Henderson was there to head off the line.
Raith continued to grow into the game as they advanced up the pitch. An equaliser was mere inches away when a 30-yard free kick from Dylan Easton cannoned off the Falkirk crossbar, but the end of the half signalled a goalless 45 minutes for The Rovers.
Raith got the second half going with a flurry of corners, and came close to challenging Hogarth if it wasn’t for some crucial defensive blocks from the Falkirk back line.
It was the away side that went on to double their lead on the hour mark however, after a long ball towards Raith’s defence proved awkward to deal with. Falkirk’s Ross MacIver pounced on Murray’s header and caught Dabrowski scrambling, who had come out to meet the ball seconds earlier. His effort on goal left Dabrowski wrong-footed, and the ball bounced into the Raith net to give Falkirk their second of the match.
Jamie Gullan came on a few minutes after, and Aidan Connolly followed five minutes later as Raith changed their shape. Gullan managed a couple of shots on goal, but found no luck on either occasion.
Falkirk comfortably saw the remaining minutes out and the final whistle signified an important victory for the away side, who now remain top of the championship by two points – as well as a game in hand.
This defeat drops Raith to 7th in the league, with The Rovers now trailing two points behind 6th placed Morton.
Next up – The Rovers have an opportunity to extend their 3 point-lead over 8th placed Hamilton in an away fixture to New Douglas Park this Tuesday night.
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