Report

Raith Rovers closed the gap to fourth place on Saturday after comfortably dispatching Partick Thistle 3-0 at Starks Park.  

Barry Robson made one change to his starting 11 after last week’s defeat away to Celtic in the Scottish Cup. Finlay Pollock was back into the starting lineup whilst Euan Murray was rotated to the bench. Byrne and Vaughan continued to miss out through injury alongside Gitau, Smith, and Hamilton.  

Brian Graham’s red card from Partick’s defeat to Falkirk a week earlier meant that the veteran striker couldn’t feature on this occasion as he served his one-match ban. Ben Stanway was also dropped to the bench, with Kyle Turner and Aidan Fitzpatrick both getting the call-up to start.  

Partick got the match underway on a chilly afternoon at Starks Park, but it was the home side who would open the scoring not long after…  

Raith had a sharp start to the match and quickly worked the ball through the team and into Partick’s penalty area. Gullan looked to have been dispossessed, but the ball fell to Finlay Pollock who wasted no time in blasting the ball into the bottom right corner from a tight angle. With just seven minutes on the clock, Raith had the lead.  

The match turned into a series of aerial battles as both sides defended some high balls. Raith continued to probe Partick’s back line though and eventually found success. 

In the 25th minute, Raith recycled a free kick into Partick’s box and worked the ball to Dylan Easton on the left side of the area. The Rovers’ showman drove towards the by-line and curled a ball across the face of goal which evaded Mitchell’s diving effort to palm away. Pollock did well to beat his man and got the vital touch to put the ball away from close range to get his second of the afternoon.  

A few minutes later, Partick found themselves through on goal and the whistle went after a coming together in the box between Rae and Ablade. Much to the home fans’ relief, the offside flag had been raised.  

Raith continued to cause the Partick defence trouble as they finished the half strong. Scott Brown, having already had a couple of promising efforts on goal from long range blocked, couldn’t have come closer as he curled a 20-yard shot onto the post. The halftime whistle went around five minutes later.  

Kris Doolan made two changes during the interval as he looked to put a dent in Raith’s two goal lead, with Reid and Crawford replacing Megwa and Martin.  

Raith kept up the forward pressure into the second half and won a corner around the hour mark after Mitchell missed a tame back-pass just few yards wide of his goal.  

The afternoon’s referee, Lloyd Wilson, had a word with Gullan and Bannigan before the corner was taken. Bannigan didn’t back down and received a yellow card for his efforts, and seconds later when the ball was swung into the box, Bannigan brought Gullan down inside the area. Penalty Rovers.  

Easton stepped up to take. Mitchell got close as he dived down to his right, but the ball still found it’s way into the net – giving Raith their third of the match with just under half an hour left.  

Having avoided a second yellow after the foul for the penalty and the resultant afters, Bannigan was substituted off alongside Fitzpatrick as Stanway and Mackenzie took their places.  

Raith made some changes of their own a short while later, with Easton, Gullan, and Pollock making way for Montagu, Marsh, and Gibson in a spread-out series of substitutions. 

Raith fashioned a few more promising chances as the full-time whistle drew near, but each move broke down at the final ball and the match ended with Raith three goals to the good.  

Such a result rewards Raith with a vital three points, which pushes them up to fifth in the table and six points behind Partick with two games in hand.  

Next up, Raith welcome eighth-placed Hamilton at Starks Park this Saturday as they look to keep up their push for fourth place.  

Attendance – 3749  

Photos