Arbroath 1-2 Raith Rovers: Late goal specialists find a way to win again and go top of the Championship

Substitute Lewis Vaughan’s last-gasp effort snuck in, with Colin Hamilton’s attemped clearance smashing off the crossbar and into his own net to compound the hosts’ misery – with Jim McIntyre’s team left frustrated that they didn't pick up a point in a tightly-contested match.

Early on the hosts had the better of the chances as they looked to take an early lead and Leighton McIntosh showed Arbroath’s intent, with the wide man getting beyond the Rovers backline and going for goal, only to be called narrowly offside. Shortly after, Jay Bird was sent through one-on-one and he fired just past Kevin Dabrowski’s far post.

Murray’s men finally came into the game after the opening ten minutes of play and began to show why they are at the top end of the second tier table.

Thomas O’Brian made an excellent clearance on the line to deny Jamie Gullan – who was a late starter after Jack Hamilton felt unwell during the warm-up – after he collected Dylan Easton’s through pass and shot at goal.

The visitors then took the lead 19 minutes into proceedings when Aidan Connolly showed his quality, smashing one into the far corner on the volley after the ball fell to him kindly on the angle. Sam Stanton’s attemped acrobatic effort was blocked and his team-mate Connolly was in the right place at the right time to fire home.

And it could have been a quick-fire double when Stanton saw an effort pushed wide by Derek Gaston after another defence-splitting pass, this time from Callum Smith, found him in a great position.

But the next goal came for Arbroath out of nothing on the half hour when Liam Dick was adjudged by referee Gavin Duncan to have handled in the box, with former Motherwell man Jermaine Hylton expertly finishing from spot, calmly chipping the ball past Dabrowski.

In the second half, Rovers couldn’t quite match their recent league exploits, with the hosts’ press forcing the Kirkcaldy men into a number of stray passes.

Saying that, the best chances still went the way of the visitors, and Scott Brown, stand-in centre-back and captain, should have put his team ahead just before the hour mark.

The ball fell to him at the back post and he somehow managed to put the ball past the post when it looked easier to score.

At this point, it felt like the game had petered out, with Arbroath rightfully happy to take a point and end their horrid Championship run. But, late goal specialists Rovers conjured up another moment of magic to seal three points, with those points sending them top ahead of Saturday’s humdinger with second-placed Dundee United at Tannadice.

After four minutes of injury-time, Rovers caught the hosts out and started to bomb upfield, and like they have do so often this season, they showed real poise and composure to work the ball across the pitch.

And it felt fitting that the man on the end of the ball was Vaughan, and he cut inside and managed to find a way to send the ball into the back of the net, and to send the 500-strong travelling support into delirium.

Teams

Arbroath: Gaston; Stewart, Steele, O’Brien, Hamilton; Jacobs (Norey 68); McIntosh, Slater (Lyon 85), Gold, Hylton; Bird (Dunwald-Turan 77).

Subs not used: Adams, Stowe.

Raith Rovers: Dabrowski; Millen, Brown, Dick; Byrne; Connolly (Mullin 82), Stanton, Easton; Smith, Gullan (Vaughan 74).

Subs not used: Thomson, Corr, Matthews, Masson, Gullan, McGill.

Referee: Gavin Duncan.

Attendance: 1,445.