Manager Dougie Imrie happy as Raith Rovers pick up first point in Perth since 2003
Raith Rovers ended a 21-year losing streak against St Johnstone by returning home from Perth on Saturday with their first point there since 2003.
Entertainment was in short supply as the Fifers had to make do with 32% possession and only registered a single shot on target to their hosts’ seven in front of a crowd of 4,113 at McDiarmid Park but new manager Dougie Imrie can be satisfied with picking up the Kirkcaldy club’s first point against the William Hill Championship table-toppers since a 1-0 home win back in 2004.
That point, extending a winless streak against the Saints to ten games, might have done the Saints more favours than Rovers, keeping them level on 35 points from 17 fixtures with second-placed Partick Thistle – also held to a goalless draw at the weekend, away to Ayr United – but it edges Imrie’s seventh-placed side eight points away from the foot of the table, now on 20 points from 17 games.
The 42-year-old was happy with that second clean sheet from his two games in charge, telling Raith TV: “I thought the lads did really well against the league leaders.
“I don’t think there was a lot in the game at either end.
“We know ourselves that we have to be scoring more goals but you pick up points in this division with good structure at the back and it’s another valuable clean sheet and another valuable point on the road.
“We wanted to come away and get all three today but when you go away from home and you pick up a point, it’s always a valuable one.
“The way we defended against one of the top teams in this division, and arguably St Johnstone have got the best front four in the league – they’ve got real top players at the top end of the pitch that can cause you problems – I thought we handled them really, really well, so overall I’m really pleased with our defensive display.
“I thought they were excellent. They’ve been different class since I’ve come into the club. They work really hard and we see the quality that’s there Monday to Friday. It’s now just about trying to implement that on a Saturday by putting more balls into the box to give our strikers, wingers and midfielders more opportunities. That’s the part that we need to work on.
“I don’t have an issue defensively – it’s just in that attacking third that we need to do more to make better opportunities for our forward players.
“It was probably a typical championship game at this time of year. Both teams played well in spells but both teams defended their 18-yard boxes very well.
“We want to win every game, That’s the ethos here – to get three points every game, and if we can’t get that, we’ll settle for getting one. We don’t want to be losing games at this club.”
Raith’s next league fixture is at home to basement side Ross County this coming Saturday, with kick-off at Stark’s Park at 3pm, and the Fifers go into that game looking to end a five-match losing streak against the Highlanders stretching back seven years.
Their last win against the Dingwall side was by 4-3 away in a penalty shootout after ending a cup tie level at 1-1 back in July 2016 and they’ve lost all of their handful of meetings since, most recently by 2-0 on the road in the league in October.