'Leading 1-0 at Bayern Munich at half-time was incredible' - Raith Rovers boss Ian Murray recounts fantastic Euro memories on back of 1994 league cup triumph

The 1994 Scottish league cup final, at Ibrox Stadium on November 27 that year, saw Raith – who scored through Stevie Crawford and Gordon Dalziel – draw 2-2 after extra time against Celtic before memorably winning 6-5 on penalties thanks to goalkeeper Scott Thomson saving the final spot kick from Paul McStay.

This triumph qualified the Stark’s Park team for the 1995-96 UEFA Cup, which saw them beat the Faroese and Icelandic champions before finally bowing out 4-1 on aggregate to German Giants Bayern Munich, although Jimmy Nicholl’s side led 1-0 at half-time in the away second leg before losing 2-1 on the night.

"I remember watching that 1994 league cup final at my grandmother’s house rooting on Raith that day because they were quite heavy underdogs,” gaffer Murray told the Fife Free Press.

"Obviously the penalty kicks were where they won it, at Ibrox because I think Hampden was getting redeveloped at the time.

"The next season Raith Rovers used Easter Road for their game against Bayern which – being a Hibs fan – I remember was quite unique.

"It was a great achievement even going 1-0 up at Bayern Munich, incredible. It seems a long time ago now but in reality it’s not been that long.

"It just shows you that any cup win just gets teams used to these sort of competitions and you just never know your luck on the day.”

Although the glamour of facing Celtic in a national final and taking on the biggest team in Germany is a far cry from this Saturday's cup trip to Balmoral Stadium, Murray is enthused by the prospect.

"Obviously the Challenge Cup is slightly different but any cup win is great,” he said.

"Whatever competition you’re in, you’re in it to try and win it.

"You can change your team about, you can change your formations or whatever but you don’t go into any game not wanting to win it, especially a cup.

“The further you go in any competition the more chance you have of winning it and the more hungry you become.”

Murray – who only joined Raith as manager on a two-year deal after leaving a similar role at Airdrieonians this summer – was a spectator as Rovers won last season’s Challenge Cup final at Airdrie with a 3-1 success over Queen of the South.

He said: "I probably felt Raith were a wee bit fortunate within the final to be honest. I thought Queen of the South were the better team for large parts but that doesn’t matter, it’s who wins the cup.

"You have to give the players a lot of credit and John McGlynn and Paul Smith (then management team).

"The players haven't said too much about it. We know a lot of them have left, we’ve got new boys in. It’s another competition that we’re in so we want to try and win it.

"We also have to remember that so far a lot of our players due to squad size have played a lot of games so we might have to look to rest one or two and give them a wee chance to nurse a few knocks as well.

"But we’ll certainly have a competitive team out. We want to progress to the next round and I’m sure Cove Rangers will say exactly the same."

It’s Raith’s first trip to Cove since a 2-0 loss there on the opening day of the Championship season, when the newly-promoted hosts unfurled the League 1 flag after going up as champions last term.

“We actually played ok but we were very sloppy in the final third,” Murray said.

"We were indecisive in our decision making final third and we let in two really, really poor goals.

“Outwith the goals, although it probably sounds silly, we were actually the better side.

"But you get nothing for that and Cove on their day were more lethal than us in front of goal so we know they have big dangers in their team even though their league form since then has been a bit patchy it’s still early days.”

When asked if Raith are affected by injuries or suspensions for this Saturday’s match, Murray added: “Jamie Gullan has been struggling since he came off against Inverness. So it gives us another week in terms of league business to get him back.

"Sam Stanton’s got a wee knock so we’ll probably have to rest him as well.

"We’ve obviously got Thomas Lang, Lewis Vaughan and Ross Matthews all still out as well.

"Greig Young and Aaron Arnott – and Luke Mahady is out as well – so we are not left with a massive squad that’s for sure.

"But we do have scope to ring a few changes. We will maybe give Quinn Coulson an opportunity, we will maybe give Robbie Thomson an opportunity in goal and look to give Kieran Ngwenya an opportunity as well.”