Defensive slip-up by Raith Rovers gifts friendly win to Hearts
Raith Rovers got to within three minutes of following up the 3-1 win they racked up in their most recent previous friendly versus Heart of Midlothian in October 2024 with a draw last Friday but couldn’t hold out.
A misjudged pass back by Jai Rowe set up Rogers Mato to score the only goal of the game past substitute goalkeeper Luke Armstrong on 87 minutes to send the Edinburgh outfit back home from Kirkcaldy with a win under their belts ahead of a second-leg Champions League qualifier hosting Austria’s Sturm Graz on Tuesday, with kick-off at Tynecastle Park at 7.45pm.
It could just as easily have gone the other way, however, as opportunity twice knocked for 61st-minute substitute Dylan Easton to beat debutant replacement keeper Beau Reus, first seeing a back-post header saved, then curling a shot at an almost-open goal wide.
Ending up on the wrong side of the scoreline against opposite number Wouter Vrancken’s William Hill Premiership title challengers wasn’t too big a disappointment for Rovers manager Dougie Imrie, though, as he finalises preparation for his side’s latest bid to join Hearts in the top flight, starting with a visit from championship newcomers Stenhousemuir this coming Saturday, with kick-off at Stark’s Park at 3pm.
“I thought it was a really entertaining game,” the 42-year-old told Raith TV afterwards.
“Both teams at times had really good periods in the game.
“Obviously we’re disappointed to have lost the game – we don’t want to lose any game – but I thought it was a shame for Jai because for 89 minutes he was outstanding.
“Unfortunately for defenders, if you make one error, you get punished and that was the case and it got Hearts a victory, but I’m really proud of the group. We looked full of energy, our shape was excellent, our press was excellent and we limited Hearts to very little.
“I don’t think they had a lot of clear-cut chances, and at the other end, we had some good opportunities ourselves.
“Dylan had two after he came on, wee Kai Montagu was excellent, Anton Dowds led the line magnificently for us during his 60 minutes on the pitch, Paul McMullan was excellent and the 90 minutes he got will give him a really good base to kick on from, our two central midfielders covered the ground really well and complemented each other and I thought we passed the ball really, really well through a good, strong Hearts team.
“If I can get what I got tonight for the next three or four weeks until we get everybody back, I’m really excited for this season.
“One of the reasons we took this game was to see where we are, and on that showing, we’re not far away.
“We just need a little bit better finishing, a wee bit better technique.
“In the second half, I thought some of our transitions were excellent, breaking through a really strong Hearts team, and on another day, we could have come away with a couple of goals.”
This Saturday’s William Hill Championship opener will be Raith’s first game against Stenny since a 1-1 away draw in league one back in April 2019.