Four-save Josh Rae display in goal earns point for Raith Rovers away to Partick Thistle
There might not have been any winners at Glasgow’s Firhill Stadium on Saturday as Raith Rovers played out a goalless draw away to Partick Thistle but the Fifers will probably feel more satisfied with a point than their fellow William Hill Championship title challengers.
It’s unlikely that any of the 604 Raith fans among a crowd of 4,154 will rank the weekend’s stalemate among their most entertaining away-days ever as their team failed to test home goalkeeper Liam McFarlane even once over the course of 92 minutes and only registered a single shot off target.
At the other end of the pitch, though, Thistle fired a dozen shots Raith’s way, four of them on target, and they had visiting No 1 Josh Rae to thank for keeping them on level terms on the day and above their hosts in the table.
League leaders Stenhousemuir will be happier than either Raith or Partick with their title rivals’ 0-0 draw, however, as their 1-0 victory at home to Arbroath at the same time extends their lead at the top of the table to five points, taking them to 19 points from seven fixtures.
Seven rounds into the season, manager Dougie Imrie’s Raith remain second on 14 points and third-placed Partick are level with fourth-placed Dunfermline Athletic on 12 points.
Given Partick’s home record, with Saturday’s draw taking them to 23 games in Maryhill unbeaten on league duty, a run dating back to April 2025, Imrie was happy enough not to have fallen further behind in the title race ahead of a visit from fifth-placed Livingston this coming Friday, with kick-off at 7.45pm.
“Overall, it’s good to get a point to take up the road,” the 43-year-old told Raith TV afterwards.
“I think it’s been a really positive start to the season.
“Today was alway going to be a difficult game. Partick are a really good team. Certainly at Firhill, they make it difficult for you, but as the game went on, we grew into the occasion.
I thought our back four were excellent. They had a lot of work to do but our two centre-backs dealt with Alex Samuel really, really well.
“Could we be better? 100%, but to come here and see the game out and pick up a valuable point is good for us.
“We were never always going to have it our own way. No game is similar to one the week before. You have to fight for everything.
“I said before the game that we were going to have to fight for a point first and foremost, than if we could have got three, event better, but to pick up a point at a very difficult venue against a team that haven’t lost in over 500 days is good.
“There won’t be many teams that come here this season and pick up points, so we’ll take it and move on.
“The character was there. They dug in and rolled their sleeves up when they had to.
“What I saw today was a team that were here for the fight, rolled their sleeves up, put their bodies on the line and picked up second balls when they had to.”
Crediting Rae, 25, with keeping the Fifers in the game, Imrie added: “I’ve got Josh to thank for getting us in at half-time at nil-nil.
“He made two or three great saves.”