Blustery Gayfield and torrential rain at kick-off but it dies down and din;t affect the game as much. Sean Simpson started up front with Weir and put in a great shift, mobile and hardworking but, like the rest lacking a bit of composure at the finish. Poor turnout of home fans but a half-decent away following brought soem atmosphere to the game
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Two quick-fire goals in the first-half gave Raith Rovers a deserved win over Arbroath at a blustery Gayfield Park.
A lovely through pass set Alan Walker clean through on goal after 20 minutes and the striker made no mistake by coolly slotting past keeper Darren Hill. Mark Ferry doubled the lead soon after when his quick half-volley from 30 yards squeezed in a the near post. A rather lucky wonder strike
Scott Gates through one-on-one with David McGurn but the Rovers keeper stood tall to deny the home side. A lovely Gates sidefoot was also kept out by the keeper and, though we pressed well in bursts, just couldn't get the breakthrough
We got some joy when we played the ball down the wings but Weir was fighting a lonely furrow trying to compete in the air. Nicky Smith made a subs appearace after a long gap, and Andy Reilly looked sharp wen he came on
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Lichties36nilhello: Super Lichties were unlucky with a couple of free kicks until a defensive blunder and a wonder strike put the Rovers on easy street........Until the Second half when the Lichties woke up! With a decent striker we may/would have taken something out of the game...........
Goals that count eh. Well done to the Rovers, best team i have seen this season (1st half anyway!)
Recre Rover: Good solid win today - exactly what we needed after last week. Tough start to the game with a few close free-kicks, but we took control of the game soon enough and were well on top when the goals came.
We were a bit pish in the second half, letting Arbroath back into it, but goalkeeper change made a difference as McGurn produced a few excellent stops to earn his clean sheet.
First quarter over and only 1 defeat is the positive way to look at things, so I think I'll be happy with that.
XBL: Im not too disheartened. Raith looked good in the first half, Raeside slipped for the first goal, but that was understandable on such a wet surface. Could have happened to anyone. The second goal was a cracker though!
We played alright, and in the second half we could have had a couple if McGurn hadn't made some good saves. I thought the short blond partnership of Gates, Weir and Reilly looked promising towards the end. It was a nice day out, the football was decent to watch (although our usual boo boy support were critical of everything as per usual), and I had a laugh with a couple of the Raith fans.
Im sure we can get a few wins this season, although we will probably get relegated. Even so, I would rather we played like that and got relegated than go through last seasons 1-0 wins over again.
As for the game, they had a few early free kicks, couple of crosses that came to nothing before we burst into life suddenly, putting Walker through on goal. Brilliant finish, it has to be said. Just as well it wasn't one of our strikers. Ferry's goal was an absolute peach, great to see him off the mark. You could see how much the goal meant to him. Hope he kicks on and becomes a big player for us now.
We maybe could have nicked another before half time, but Arbroath could say the same about the second half. We were poor, and I suppose Arbroath will be a bit annoyed they didn't score, they probably deserved to. McGurn made two excellent saves and there were a couple of penalty appeals - anything in them? Didn't look like much from where I was.
MichaelW (Rovers): We were good in the first half, although I'd say we rode our luck in the second. Some quite nervy defending at times. McGurn had a cracking second half, producing some fine saves, good to see him back in goals. I don't know what it was in the second, we just seemed to sit in a bit, Arbroath certainly deserved a goal.