Sat 12th August / 14:00 / Championship 23/24 / / home
Raith Rovers vs Greenock Morton
Line Up
Preview
After a late comeback in Maryhill against Partick Thistle secured a point for Raith Rovers on the opening day of the Championship last weekend, they return to Stark's Park to welcome Morton as their first guests of the new campaign.Goals in the final seven minutes from Dylan Easton and Kieran Mitchell snatched a draw last time out, after Rovers had went behind in the opening minutes against Thistle, and Ian Murray's men will be hoping to take that momentum into this weekend's fixture versus Morton.The Greenock side, under the guidance of Dougie Imrie, enjoyed an impressive campaign last season, missing out on the playoffs on the final day, and they started this one in fine fettle too, kicking things off with a reasonably straightforward 3-1 win over Ayr United.Saturday's visitors held the upper hand in the fixtures last term, losing just one of the four league meetings, although Rovers did prevail on penalties in the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup.That solitary league win for Rovers came almost exactly 12 months ago, when goals from Liam Dick and Aidan Connolly put Rovers two to the good, but a late Cameron Blues goal ensured a nervy final 10 minutes.After this match, Rovers will have a brief hiatus from league duty, with Hibernian next up at Easter Road in the last 16 of the Viaplay Cup.Saturday's match referee will be David Munro.
Head-To-Head Record
Raith Rovers Wins: 57
Greenock Morton wins: 67
Draws: 37
Reports
Raith began the game looking to impress their home fans at Starks Park, wanting to earn their first victory in the league this season. Raith got off to a great start, within 2 minutes, with Josh Mullin’s corner finding the diving head of Euan Murray, but the ball was somehow blocked on the line.Raith were able to take an early lead in only the 4th minute, when Dylan Easton played a fantastic through pass to find Lewis Vaughan, he then squared the ball and Jack Hamilton was there to score a goal that all good strikers love, a tap in from 3 yards. GOAL RAITH 1-0!Raith soon doubled the lead in the 14th minute, when Dylan Easton was brought down in the box by Muirhead, giving Raith a penalty, Lewis Vaughan took the penalty and smashed the ball into the goalkeepers bottom right corner. GOAL RAITH 2-0!Morton scored only 3 minutes later with the man who gave away the penalty scoring a fantastic towering header into the roof of the net. GOAL MORTON 2-1! No more big chances came for the rest of the half. Half Time.Raith made the first big chance of the second half when Ross Millen found Lewis Vaughan with a long ball, Vaughan decided to try a first time chip over the former Raith goalkeeper, MacDonald, however Vaughans audacious effort went just wide.It took until the 71st minute for the next big chance, it came from Morton, they had a corner that was delivered into the box with great precision, the first contact was made by a Morton player and the ball was headed down into the path of Crawford, he made no mistake and got his shot away quickly, to equalise for the visitors. GOAL MORTON 2-2!Raith quickly re-took the lead only 5 minutes later with an absolute wonder goal, a mistake was made by Broadfoot on the half way line when he took too long to clear the ball, the ball was robbed off of him by the hard working Callum Smith, he then ran into the box looking for support, but the closest Raith player was Stanton, however he was fouled off the ball so Smith had to do it on his own, he faked a shot with his right foot to beat the on rushing defender, he cut onto his left foot and placed the ball perfectly into the far bottom corner of the goal. GOAL RAITH 3-2!Impactful substitute Ethan Ross won a 2nd penalty of the afternoon in the 90th minute, his skill and pace being too much for Broadfoot to deal with. Mullin stepped up to take the penalty, but MacDonald made a great save to keep it only 3-2. Full Time.MOTM Callum Smith
Photos
Highlights
Interviews
Ian Murray spoke to RaithTV after today's win in the cinch Championship:Goalscorer Callum spoke to RaithTV after today's 3-2 win at Stark's Park: