Sat 28th December / 15:00 / Championship 24/25 / / home
Raith Rovers vs Livingston
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Raith Rovers ended 2024 on a high as they won their third league game in a row on Saturday, after beating 2nd placed Livingston 2-1 at Starks Park.
Colin Cameron and John Potter took charge after Neill Collins’ departure was announced just a week earlier. The interim duo opted to change little about the team that prevailed against Queens Park around eight days prior, with Liam Dick and Dylan Easton replacing Kai Montagu and Lewis Gibson. The two youngsters joined Scott Brown on the bench, who returns to the squad after three weeks out through injury.
Livingston got the afternoon’s proceedings underway, but it was Raith who took control of the match early on.
The Rovers consolidated for the first five minutes as they calmy knocked the ball around the park. An opportunity opened up for Liam Dick to fire a ball through to Dylan Easton from his own half – and he did just that. Easton raced towards goal, before rounding the keeper and knocking the ball into the net from a tight angle. With just 6 minutes on the clock, Raith had the lead.
Livingston tried to net an early response, but after a few efforts involving a blocked freekick on the edge of the box and a goal-line clearance from Liam Dick, Raith remained ahead.
The Rovers didn’t back down and continued to play some neat football, which eventually led to Lewis Jamieson getting a chance to play a ball across Livingston’s goal. Such a pass eluded the visitors defence, and Aidan Connolly was at the back post to turn the ball into the net. Having scored his second goal in as many games, Connolly had doubled Raith’s lead in the 27th minute.
Raith threatened with a few more efforts coming close from Connolly and Dick, but the score going into halftime remained 2-0.
Livingston made a couple of substitutions at halftime as they looked to get a handle on the match, and emerged an energised side as the second half progressed.
Raith struggled for possession whilst Livingston started to progress up the pitch. Eventually the visitor’s earned a chance to get a goal back after a coming together at the front post led to a penalty. Stevie May converted the spot kick, and suddenly Raith’s lead was cut to one goal with over 25 minutes left to be played.
Raith made four substitutions in the minutes that followed, but Livingston retained the bulk of possession. Dabrowski wasn’t left with much to do however, with Raith defending well.
Hearts were in mouths as Livingston again advanced into the Raith box. First-half substitute Lewis Smith fell to the ground and the referee blew his whistle. To the relief of Rovers’ fans, Smith had been booked for simulation.
Earlier injuries had built up a substantial amount of stoppage time, but Raith weathered the storm and held strong to the final whistle.
Having now put a six-match losing streak against Livingston to bed, Raith have now also won their last three league matches in a row. Such a run of results means Raith now lie 6th in the table, with 8 points separating them from both the promotion and relegation play-off positions.
Next up, The Rovers travel to the West Coast as they face 3rd placed Ayr United on the 4th of January.
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