Report

Raith Rovers couldn’t put a dent in St Johnstone’s title-winning party on Friday after losing 2-0 in the last away match of the season.

The hosts looked dangerous from set-pieces and found the net in the first half from the spot, before a free-kick shortly before the break doubled their lead.

Dougie Imrie made two changes to the side that lost 2-1 away to Arbroath six days earlier, with Kai Montagu and Innes Cameron replacing Joshua Mullin and Jack Hamilton, who both took places on the bench. Scott Brown and Paul Hanlon were absent from the squad entirely after both coming on as substitutes against Arbroath – leaving Imrie with only five outfield changes on the night.

Raith got things underway at a fairly packed McDiarmid Park, with the lifting of the league trophy scheduled after the match. The Champions would get off to a quick start, keeping Raith penned in their own half for the opening 15 minutes or so.

A free-kick about one yard outside of Raith’s penalty area in the 18th minute gave Jamie Gullan the chance to convert the set-piece, but his far-side effort was tipped over the bar by Josh Rae.

Gullan would get another chance to score against his former club shortly later, after a small entanglement in The Rovers’ box between Matthews and Fotheringham led to a penalty for The Saints. Gullan fired his spot-kick high and straight down the middle, putting the hosts ahead in the 21st minute.

St Johnstone wouldn’t let up as they continued to advance into Raith’s area, but some narrowly wayward shots off target kept the deficit to one as halftime approached.

Another chance would come along before the break though, after a challenge on the edge ofthe box led to an almost identical free kick for the Saints. Gullan tried his luck with a far-sided attempt again, and this time blasted the ball into the left side of the Rovers’ goal, making it 2-0 to the Saints in the 41st minute.

Imrie looked to his bench around ten minutes after the break, replacing Kai Montagu and Ross Matthews with Jack Hamilton and Richard Chin in the 56th minute.

Raith did find the net shortly after, with a lofted ball into the box causing problems for the Saints’ defence, but Vaughan’s eventual strike on goal in the 58th minute was confusingly ruled out for offside in the end.

The Rovers did have a bit more luck pushing up the pitch in the second half, but they failed to really test Toby Steward in the Saints’ goal. The hosts remained a threat on the counter, but they couldn’t find goal number three before the full-time whistle.

The result means Raith miss out on any chance of promotion play-offs and constricts them to a maximum of a fifth-place finish, depending on results elsewhere. Things will ultimately be settled in the season’s final round of fixtures this Friday night, where Raith return to Starks to play a desperate, last-placed, Ross County.

Highlights

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