Dylan Easton free-kick earns point for Raith Rovers at Partick Thistle but manager Neill Collins disappointed to have missed out on two more

Captain Brian Graham put their Glaswegian hosts ahead with a header past visiting goalkeeper Kevin Dabrowski from a Logan Chalmers assist with six minutes on the clock and they kept hold of that lead for over an hour until a Dylan Easton free-kick beyond Myles Roberts drew them level on 68 minutes.

Collins felt the game was the Fifers for the taking at that point but they had to settle for a share of the spoils at Maryhill’s Firhill Stadium in front of a crowd of 4,348, leaving them seventh in the William Hill Championship table, on 15 points from 13 fixtures ahead of a visit from eighth-placed Greenock Morton this coming Saturday, with kick-off at Kirkcaldy’s Stark’s Park at 3pm.

Easton’s goal was one of four shots on target for Raith, twice as many as their hosts managed, forcing three saves to Dabrowski’s one.

“My expectations coming here were really positive because the players had been outstanding in training and it was following on from a really good performance against Ayr United, “ the 41-year-old told Raith TV afterwards.

“The way that the team came back says a lot and really I thought I’d be standing here talking about three points after that second-half performance.

“I thought for the last ten minutes of the first half we were at our poorest and I was desperate to get in at half-time to make changes because I felt that we could go on and win the game.

“I didn’t think we’d shown ourselves as well as we could have done and thankfully we then did. I knew that the players wouldn’t be as poor as they were at times in the first half.

“I think we probably left a wee bit out there. There were balls across the box we could maybe have done better with than the shots at goal we had.

“A point at Firhill, no matter how you’re doing, is normally good but we felt we could maybe just have got that extra two.”

Raith switched from a 3-4-3 formation to a 4-4-2 at half-time, replacing Callum Fordyce with Finlay Pollock, and Collins attributes their turnaround in fortunes to that rethink.

“As a manager, sometimes you stand at the side and you rack your brains about changes, whether it be shape or personnel, and honestly there are times when it doesn’t matter what you do until your players start basically playing better,” he said.

“I felt we needed Finlay’s pace. The pitch is big and they were trying to be aggressive against the ball so it was important that we got Finlay on and that meant we had to change shape.

“I’ve got to give credit to the players because they then went out and took the game by the scruff of the neck and, pretty much from the first few minutes of the second half, pushed Partick back onto the back foot and created opportunities.

“Finlay was excellent. All our substitutes came on and did really well. They all made an impact on the game of a positive nature and that’s what we expect from our substitutes.”