Raith Rovers: Esmael Goncalves thought he had stunned Ibrox with 'audacious' 60-yard effort over Allan McGregor

Guinea-Bissau-born 31-year-old forward Goncalves, known as Isma, almost stunned over 41,000 fans just two minutes into the Scottish Cup quarter-final in Govan when his audacious early attempt narrowly missed Allan McGregor’s left hand post.

Premiership giants Rangers went on to ultimately won the game comfortably by three goals to nil against their mid-table Championship opponents, but the sizeable Raith travelling support were almost in dreamland with the match still in its infancy after Goncalves seized onto a misplaced pass by Rangers centre back Connor Goldson.

“I knew Rangers took a lot of risks playing at the back, so I was waiting on an opportunity and it came really early,” Goncalves told the Fife Free Press.

"When I took the ball I knew the goalkeeper (McGregor) was always out of his box.

"So I tried a shot and it almost went in. I really thought the ball was going in but then at the end it started to move to the right.

"If that ball had gone in I think I would have left the stadium! Seriously, I would have sprinted over to the Raith fans to celebrate as it would have been special for them."

Well-travelled Goncalves, who is on loan at Rovers from top flight Livingston until the end of the season, has played for a total of 15 clubs in 11 different countries.

And he revealed that he did score from around the halfway line once before in his career, when playing for Cypriot outfit Anorthosis Famagusta in 2017.

Goncalves’ current gaffer at Raith, Ian Murray, thought he might just have repeated the trick at Ibrox.

Murray said: “It was a great effort from Isma. I think for a couple of seconds the whole stadium thought it was in.

"It was an audacious effort, he hit it really, really well and got a good connection on it.

"McGregor was out of his goal and it was over him so he had no chance. It was just unfortunate for us that it fell the wrong side of the post.”

Raith gained plaudits for their overall performance and Goncalves endorsed this praise.

He added: “I think we did really well. The plan was to defend and keep it at 0-0 or 1-0 until the last minutes so in the last minutes we could attack and take our chances.

"Our defence had a great game but then we made small mistakes.”

Sunday marked Goncalves’ second Scottish Cup tie in a Raith shirt, with him having scored the clincher as the Kirkcaldy outfit beat top flight Motherwell at home on February 11, the very day he had signed.

"It was a great start for me,” he said. “You arrive at the club, you score and it shows everybody you have come here to help.

Goncalves, whose seventh-placed side play Cove Rangers at home this Saturday, still thinks Murray’s men can bridge an eight-point gap with nine games left to clinch a top four play-off spot.

"I believe we can still get in the play-offs,” he said. “There’s a lot of games left so it’s still possible and a lot of points to play for.

“Honestly, from the league teams we have played against, I didn’t see a better team than our team.

"At playing football, I think we are one of the best teams in the Championship.

"I definitely think Raith should be higher up the table. From what I’ve seen, I think we should at least be in the top three.

"But in football you also need luck.”

When asked what he likes about Scottish football, Goncalves added: “I love Scottish football.

"I love the atmosphere in the stadiums, I love the way we play the football here I think it suits me.

"People here like the contact, the fight.”