Hard work paid off, says Raith Rovers manager Ian Murray after first victory of season against Morton

Second-half goals from Liam Dick and Aidan Connolly, on 51 and 66 minutes respectively, earner the Fifers their first points of the season at Stark’s Park in Kirkcaldy, although their visitors did manage a consolation effort, scored by Cameron Blues, ten minutes from the final whistle.

That win against the Inverclyde side, unbeaten until then, followed back-to-back defeats away to Cove Rangers and at home to Dundee and it lifts them off the bottom of the table as they’re now one point better off than basement side Arbroath ahead of a trip to seventh-placed Hamilton Academical, also on three points, next weekend.

“It was a typical championship game really,” Murray told Raith TV afterwards.

“It was a very hard battle in midfield in particular. Both sets of midfielders will have a few bumps and bruises tomorrow morning, I’m pretty sure, and the ball will have few bumps and bruises as well.

“I felt we deserved to win. I felt we were calm, which was really, really important – calm at 0-0, calm at 2-0 and even calmer at 2-1 – because if we were going to panic, it was going to be at 2-1.

“Morton put us under pressure towards the end with long balls and diagonal balls, but our back-line defended incredibly high and very, very bravely and we’ve got a very calm goalkeeper as well.

“After they scored, there wasn’t really anything that bothered us. We just had to see the game out and our midfielders and strikers did that very well.

“We felt we could get at Morton in wide areas with the ability that we’ve got. Our formation at times can look a bit defensive, but we look at our ability in those areas and we’ve got really good quality with Aidan Connolly and Ethan Ross on the sides and we’ve got Sam Stanton and Dylan Easton making runs from midfield, with Scott Brown backing them up.

“Our decision-making was the only thing lacking in the first half. In the second half, it was really good.

“We got two really, really good goals, especially the first one.

“What I like about all the boys is that they work so hard. They’ve reacted to everything we’ve asked them to do. They’ve reacted incredibly well since the Cove Rangers game. Even last week, when we lost, they put everything into it, and they’ve done the same today, and they’ll get their rewards. I keep drumming it into them – work hard and that’s our platform. After that, our quality will come through. It takes time – it takes a long time sometimes – but now they’re seeing the benefits of what we’re talking about.

“We work hard, it’s as simple as that. That’s how you get anywhere in life. It’s not just football. Nobody hands you anything on a plate. You must work hard. If you work hard, you get your rewards. If you keep going with that, quality always shines through in the end.

“If we play like that and we compete like that – there’s no guarantee of success because it’s a very, very hard league – but we’ll win games.

“I’m really happy with everybody. I don’t think there were too many faults. There are always going to be moments when it doesn’t quite go for you, but I don’t remember too many saves by either goalkeeper.

“What I like about us is that we’re very calm.

“As disappointed as were at losing a goal, we’ve also shown that we can stand up to adversity and that’s a huge thing as there are going to be moments like that in games. We never panicked, and that was the biggest thing. It would have been so easy for us to go and sit on our 18-yard line and try and win long balls, but we defended really, really high. Within the negative of losing the goal, we found a huge amount of positives.”

Singling out winger Connolly, 26, for praise for the finish that yielded Rovers’ second goal, Murray added: “It’s quality. Aidan has got that in his locker. We’ve seen it against Peterhead as well with his free-kick and with his delivery of dead-balls at times.

“He works incredibly hard, that’s the bottom line. He gets himself into areas of the park defensively that really help us, and he also gets himself at the attacking end of the park and causes problems. When the ball goes onto Aidan’s left foot, we always believe in him and feel we’ve got a good chance.”