4-0 hiding at home to Queen’s Park deals blow to Raith Rovers’ hopes of challenge for play-off place
A 4-0 hiding at home to Queen’s Park on Saturday has dealt a blow to Raith Rovers’ hopes of making a belated challenge for a top-four place in football’s William Hill Championship.
Fourth-placed Partick Thistle being held to a 1-1 draw hosting Livingston the night before offered the Fifers, fifth in the standings at kick-off, an opportunity to cut the gap to the play-off places to two points, but manager Barry Robson’s men squandered that chance and instead allowed back-to-back defeats, following on from a 1-0 loss at Airdrieonians four days prior, to leave them five points adrift of that goal.
Adding insult to injury, their visitors’ victory sees them swap places in the table by virtue of a goal difference ten better, with the Glaswegians now fifth and Raith sixth, both on 33 points from 26 fixtures.
The Spiders’ goals past home goalkeeper Josh Rae at Kirkcaldy’s Stark’s Park were scored by ex-Raith loan striker Zak Rudden on 29 minutes, Adam Devine on 49, Adam Montgomery on 51 and Nikola Ujdur on 72.
Next up for the Fifers as they look to get their season back on track is a trip to second-placed Livingston on Wednesday, with kick-off at 7.45pm.
Reflecting on his side’s 13th defeat of the season, in front of a crowd of 3,600, Robson, 46, told Raith TV: “It was a sore one all round – disappointing, not good enough.
“With the performances that we’ve put in lately, I didn’t see that coming.”