'I would much rather not score two and we win' - Raith Rovers ace Aidan Connolly reflects on Queen's Park home defeat

The 27-year-old former Falkirk player curled Raith 1-0 up with a brilliant left foot strike and also thumped home a late second, but these strikes were to no avail as Ian Murray’s team slumped to a heavy loss.

"Personally it was good but it was a bit frustrating,” Connolly told the Fife Free Press. “I would rather not score two and we win the game.

"It’s always hard when you come home and you’ve not won. It makes it a harder weekend and a harder week through training.

“Every time Queen’s Park went forward it was like they scored. But obviously that’s poor from us, we need to get numbers back quicker and stop them from creating those transitions.

"It was obviously disappointing.

"We have a good team.

“Through a season you are always going to get beaten in games and you are always going to get freak results.

"We always get big wins ourselves, it changes throughout the season and I think it always evens itself out.”

The phrase ‘big win’ could hardly have been more appropriate to describe a hugely memorable moment from Connolly’s career, when the substitute netted a decisive 86th-minute goal at Wembley in front of over 38,000 fans as former club York City won the 2017 FA Trophy with a 3-2 final victory over Macclesfield Town.

When asked about his memories of that day, Connolly said: “The winning goal was a tap in. Jon Parkin got the ball, he hit a shot which deflected off a defender, went over the goalie and I tapped it in.

"York fans are really passionate – like the Raith fans as well – so they loved that and all the players went out in York after we won that final.

"It’s a lovely place. I have been down there a few times since I left (he played for York between 2016 and 2018).

“It’s always nice to win something in your career because not everyone does it.

"It was a good time back then and obviously I enjoyed my time at York.”

Connolly, a one-time Scottish Cup runner-up with Dundee United in 2014 – although he was suspended for the 2-0 final loss to St Johnstone – gets another chance to make his mark on the tournament this Saturday as Raith host Auchinleck Talbot in the third round.

"Of course we will give Auchinleck the respect they deserve,” he said. “They are a very good team at junior level.

"They’ll fancy themselves coming here so it’s not going to be easy for us.

"They are going to make it difficult and our boys need to get it into their heads that this is going to be a tough game.”