'No goalie was saving it': Raith Rovers boss Ian Murray hails skipper Scott Brown's stunning winner against Dundee United

The game had seen Raith go ahead early on in front of 7923 fans – Stark’s Park’s biggest crowd for 25 years – when Dundee loanee Zak Rudden smartly flicked in Liam Dick’s near post cross, before being pegged back to 1-1 on 39 minutes when Louis Moult latched onto Ross Graham’s effort from a corner kick.

Despite Jim Goodwin’s side then having the better of play in the second half, Rovers substitute Brown popped up with a moment of magic to seal the win by chesting down a clearance and volleying home from long range past Jack Walton to bring second-placed Raith within a single point of leaders United with 13 games left.

“It was a very important win for us this evening,” boss Murray told BBC Scotland post match. "To get it so late as well obviously is a fantastic feeling for us.

"The goal was outstanding from Scott. He was very unfortunate not to find himself in the starting 11 this evening.

“I was right behind it and the moment it left his boot you could see the goalie scrambling a little bit and I don’t think any goalie’s saving that.

"He’s hit it not just with so much pace but the dip on the ball as well. It’s right in the top corner.

"To do it in a high pressure moment, a top of the table clash in front of a full house at Stark’s Park, that’s everything you want in a player that’s cool, calm and collected in a game.

"In terms of the outcome of the league season, it could be pivotal for us, it might not be.

"Scott was very unfortunate not to find himself in the starting 11.

"He’s captain of our team pretty much every single week or certainly when he starts games.

"He’s got that ability and I’ve said it now for a couple of years: ‘For the life of me I cannot understand – and it's no disrespect to Peterhead – how Scott was playing for Peterhead for five years in League One.”

Murray said getting so close to United at the top gives Raith “huge confidence”.

He added: "If we had lost the game tonight it was going to make life very difficult for us going forward to try and win the Championship that’s for sure.

"We knew if we won all it did was put us back closer to Dundee United. The message to the players – and it has been for the last couple of weeks – was, let’s get back to doing what we’re good at.

"And that is working hard, showing a little bit of bite in the midfield areas and then showing how much quality we have.

"Tonight it’s all those things that have actually got us over the line in terms of working hard, a little bit of desire, a little bit of hunger and then our moments of quality to score the goals.

"The biggest message tonight was: ‘Trust yourselves, believe in yourselves’.

"Football is a very, very cruel game. We’ve not played well for the past four or five games but when I looked around the changing room and so many good players, that doesn’t last forever.

"It was a wee dip in form so hopefully this kickstarts us.”

Murray said the win showcased the incredible depth in his squad.

He added: "I said to the players before the game: ‘What’s more important, the starting team or the finishing team?’

"To me it’s exactly the same because we’ve got such good quality in our squad and so many good players.

"I’m lucky that some guys aren’t even stripped this evening.”

There was more than a strong hint of offside about Rudden’s opener and Murray said: "Zak’s goal was a wonderful finish, an incredible finish when you see it back out of absolutely nothing.

“He looks maybe a wee half yard offside but from these angles it’s hard to tell.

"Nonetheless, it’s a really good driven ball in by Liam Dick and a lovely, lovely finish.

"It got us off to a really good start. There were a couple of chances for both teams at either end of the park.

"Then I felt Dundee United kind of took control of the game towards the end of the first half.”