Raith Rovers vs. Peterhead
Ladbrokes League 1
04.01.2020
Raith Rovers is a football club based on the South east coast of Scotland. It is a small club, but with plenty of pluck, who are currently on course for promotion from the third tier of Scottish football, leading the Ladbrokes League One. In 2014, the club beat Glasgow Rangers after extra time to win the Scottish Challenge Cup. Additional honours include the 1994 Scottish League Cup, getting over the top of Glasgow Celtic. This prompted a UEFA Cup run the following season, even taking on the mighty Bavarian side Bayern Munich. Raith is not the name of a town, city or village. It’s an old Scots Gaelic word for “fortified residence”. The club itself is based in the town of Kirkcaldy in the Kingdom of Fife. The highest league position that they ever place was third in 1922, finishing behind champions Celtic and runners-up Rangers.
One of the greats of the club played the first of his two stints at the club in the late 1960’s. In 1968 he won the Scottish Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year Award, scoring 27 goals in 34 matches, helping the club avoid relegation from the old First Division that very same season. One of the great managers of the club was Canada born Jimmy Nicholl. During his heyday he played for, amongst others, Manchester United, Toronto Blizzard, Glasgow Rangers and Northern Ireland 73 times. Having already won the Scottish Championship with Rangers, he found himself in a Player-Manager role at Raith Rovers, in the first of two stints in the role of boss at the club. Aside from several Fife Cup (a regional competition), he led the club to victory in the League Cup, as well as the second tier of Scottish football, in 1993 and 1995. Nicoll is currently the assistant manager of the Northern Ireland National Team.
I’ve turned up to watch Raith Rovers’ home tie against Peterhead, in League One. There are signs of a low average attendance at Stark’s Park. The Railway Stand has been listed online as ‘not in use for fans’ and there’s a club banner flag in the corner of the opposite stand that’s been there since when I was here at the start of the season. Additionally, the home side seem to be in the habit of keeping a training/warm up goal in the corner of the McDermid Stand. The stadium itself is unusually shaped like the letter ‘L’ with there being a space along the touchline between the East and North Stands allowing for a maximum capacity of 8,867 fans, who look out onto a synthetic pitch.
As the game gets underway, both teams are looking to go direct from deep after the second or third pass, normally as a result of a bit of high pressure, but the team from Fife are starting to be able to string a few passes together from defence to midfield. Neither team, however, has shown much in the way of penetration in these early stages. The first real shot of the game comes in the eighth minute. It’s a 20 yarder towards the top left hand corner of the goal, coming from the Raith Rovers winger, Dylan Tait. It finds the back of the net giving the home fans something to cheer about. Rovers quickly find some space again, with a diagonal ball across the away team’s half. The ball ends up at the feet of the right back Jamie Watson, who centres it, but the resulting shot is blocked. Peterhead almost immediately go up the other end to score the equaliser. Derek Lyle is the man who gets the goal; Raith Rovers 1 – 1Peterhead.
The home team haven’t been daunted by conceding the equaliser. Two minutes later they are coming forward in numbers with Regan Hendry taking a pile driver towards goal forcing a save from Greg Fleming in the away goal. The attacks keep coming, the home crowd think that they should have a penalty when one of their forwards slips over. On a breakaway attack however, a Peterhead player is brought down physically enough for David McKay to get the first yellow card of the game. The resulting free kick is greeted by ironic cheers by the crowd as its sent high and wide from a rather ambitious 35/40 yards out.
In the 21st minute, after a lovely bit of build up play by Raith Rovers, their number 23 Jamie Gullan nearly pokes on in after a run to the near post. His attempt forces a good save from Fleming, in the Peterhead goal. The keeper then has to pounce on the loose ball to deny the rebound. The forward, however, gets another attempt soon enough as Gullan takes a good right hand cross well to tuck away his team’s second of the match, to give the home team a 2 – 1 lead.
The away team keeper is definitely the busier of the two. Towards the half an hour mark, he’s forced into a double save, whilst at the other end Ross Munro has just had the one attempt on target. On 38 minutes the Raith Rovers full back whips in a wicked cross for John Baird to get a diving header on to it. A part of the crowd think that it’s in, I think that it’s in, but the keeper pulls off a blinder to keep it out and the defence clear for the corner. From this set piece Raith Rovers win a penalty. Regan Hendry steps up, but it’s saved down to the keeper’s left. At half-time the score remains Raith Rovers 2 – 1 Peterhead.
In the opening stages of the second half all of the best play has been from Raith Rovers. In the fifth minute they mount an attack up the right hand side. The Peterhead left back takes out one of the forwards and receives a booking for his troubles. The resulting free kick is centred towards the back post, but collected comfortably by Greg Fleming. Although the Fife team deserve to be ahead, due to the domination in possession and the more aesthetically pleasing football, the back line doesn’t like being pressed. What few chances Peterhead have had have come predominately from the defensive players for the home side being pressed whilst in possession and trying to play out from the back.
In the 77th minute, Peterhead send an innocuous pass forward towards the edge of the box and the centre forward crumples under an aerial challenge, staying down. His direct opponent had already been booked and therefore, after receiving his second of the game, David McKay is sent off the pitch. With 11 players on the pitch the home side looked comfortable, however, whilst down to ten will provide an interesting challenge. Peterhead mount a couple of attacks after the incident but struggle to maintain the impetus. Raith Rovers seem to be playing a 4-4-1 defensively, but streaming forward with a 4-1-4 when in attack. It pays off as they win a free kick on their left with Scott Brown going into the book himself. They play it short, but lose possession with the ball being played away by the opposition defence. The away team, though, are unable to take advantage of the extra player. The final score remains Raith Rovers 2 – 1 Peterhead in front of a crowd of 1,807. The Raith Rovers club announcer gave the Man of the Match award to Dylan Tait, the young winger.
