Raith apologise as floodlights fail on Fife Cup final

Raith Rovers have issued an apology to fans who attended last night's Fife Cup final after floodlight failure caused the game to end in farce.
Stark's Park, Raith Rovers FC.Stark's Park, Raith Rovers FC.
Stark's Park, Raith Rovers FC.

With only two minutes left to play, and Cowdenbeath U20s leading Raith U20s 2-1, the Stark’s Park floodlights failed, plunging the stadium into darkness.

The referee informed club officials he would allow ten minutes to get the lights back on or he would be forced to abandon the match.

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Rovers ground staff tried in vain to solve the problem in the allotted time but could not get the lights back on and the ref duly asked the players to return to their dressing rooms.

An announcement was made that the match had been abandoned, however, just as the last players left the pitch and most of the spectators had left the ground, the lights came on again.

Both sets of players and their coaches wanted to play the game to a finish and appealed to the referee to restart the game.

After consulting an SFA official by telephone, he agreed he could and would play the remaining two minutes.

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The players then returned to the pitch and played the final 120 seconds of football in front of an almost empty stadium before the ref blew his whistle to formally end the Fife Cup final.

The trophy was duly presented to the victorious Cowdenbeath players.

A club statement read: "Raith Rovers would like to apologise to supporters of both teams who attended the match for the unsatisfactory way the match ended and thank them for their patience as efforts were made to rectify the problem.

"The reason the lights failed is still unknown but will be investigated as a matter of urgency in coming days."