Raith Rovers chalk up fourth win on bounce v former bogey side Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Raith Rovers remain third in the table, only three points behind league leaders Stenhousemuir, after chalking up their third win of the new William Hill Championship football season away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday.
Manager Dougie Imrie’s Fifers are now on ten points from five fixtures ahead of a visit from fourth-placed Arbroath this coming Saturday, with kick-off at Kirkcaldy’s Stark’s Park at 3pm.
Raith’s goals against the second-from-bottom Highlanders at the weekend beyond home No 1 Ross Munro were scored by midfielder John Robertson on 11 minutes and defender Jai Rowe on 85 in front of a crowd of 2,776.
That was Raith’s fourth win on the bounce against their former bogey side after victories by 4-1 in April’s KDM Evolution Trophy final in Glasgow in April, 5-1 at home in July last year in the Premier Sports Cup and 1-0 away in the championship in April 2024.
It was also Caley’s first defeat on home turf since a 2-1 loss 19 games prior hosting Stenny in William Hill League One just over a year ago.
Robertson and Rowe’s goals were among four shots on target registered by Rovers at the Caledonian Stadium, with gaffer Scott Kellacher’s hosts only managing one in reply, saved by visiting keeper Josh Rae.
Imrie, 43, was delighted to see his side bounce back from their 1-0 derby loss away to Dunfermline Athletic last Friday, their only defeat of the season so far, telling Raith TV afterwards: “It was very good.
“It was the perfect reaction I was looking for after the defeat last Friday.
“Certainly in the first half, I thought we did enough to be more than one goal up. They never really threatened our goal. There was a lot of good play.
“Over the piece, I’m really pleased to have come here, a really difficult venue, and picked up a valuable three points.
“Caley have been excellent, Scott and Billy McKay have done a remarkable job here, to go from where the club were, going through administation and all that, and they’ve got them back to a really good place.
“We knew the game wasn’t going to be easy because they’re a very good team but I though our lads, both the boys that started and the boys that came on, to a man, were excellent.
“That’s what I asked for. If I can get that sort of performance every week, we’ll not be far away. Certainly the boys gave everything for the shirt.
“Some of our play was excellent, some of our rotations were brilliant, but it’s only a start – we need to keep our feet on the ground. You just need to look at results to see there’s no easy game in this division.”
Imrie was also pleased to witness former St Johnstone forward Robertson, 25, score his first goal for his new club at the ninth time of asking since arriving at Stark’s Park from East Kilbride in July, adding: “I was really delighted to see Robbo get his first goal.
“He’s been waiting for that for a while. Hopefully that’ll settle him down now and he can go on to get a lot more for the club.
“He’d not had any of those breaks but he got one today. The ball came in and hit off their left-back and fell perfectly for him and he stuck it away.”