Raith Rovers’ Dylan Easton after being hit by a coin thrown by a spectator at Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday (Photo by Euan Cherry/SNS Group)Raith Rovers’ Dylan Easton after being hit by a coin thrown by a spectator at Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday (Photo by Euan Cherry/SNS Group)
Raith Rovers’ Dylan Easton after being hit by a coin thrown by a spectator at Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday (Photo by Euan Cherry/SNS Group)

Raith Rovers pay penalty as decisions go Pars’ way

Raith Rovers’ 3-1 defeat away to Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday was the fourth on the spin to be decided by a two-goal margin and also the first time for eight years that the Pars have notched up two Fife derby victories in a single season.

Following 2-0 wins for Raith in Kirkcaldy in December and March and one by the same scoreline for Dunfermline at home in September, it lifts new manager Michael Tidser’s Pars out of the William Hill Championship’s second-from-bottom relegation play-off place up to eighth, on 22 points from 23 fixtures.

It also sees Raith join them as neighbours in the standings, falling one place to seventh, on 27 points from 22 matches, nine points off the three top-four play-off spots but only six away from the play-off berth at the other end of the table now occupied by Hamilton Academical.

A 43rd-minute Dylan Easton penalty, awarded for a foul on the No 23 by Tom Fogarty, put the Kirkcaldy club ahead in front of a crowd of 6,812 at East End Park but that was to be the first and last time they got the better of home goalkeeper Tobi Oluwayemi and also the only occasion that a spot-kick decision went their way.

Two further penalties – on 51 minutes and 76, awarded by referee Grant Irvine for a handball by centre-back Paul Hanlon and a foul on home striker Chris Kane by visting No 1 Kevin Dabrowski respectively – sandwiching a 65th-minute goal from open play, all scored by Kane, secured all three points for the hosts, captained by long-time Raith defender Kyle Benedictus, after handing them a second victory versus their fellow Fifers in the space of a season for the first time since 2017.

Raith now take a break from their league campaign until a visit from fourth-placed Partick Thistle on Saturday, February 15, with kick-off at 3pm, this coming Saturday being set aside for a trip to Glasgow for a fifth-round Scottish Cup tie versus William Hill Premiership table-toppers Celtic kicking off at 5.30pm.

Rovers manager Barry Robson was disappointed to end his first Fife derby on the wrong side of the result, telling Raith TV afterwatds: “I think we were really good in the first half.

“Maybe, after playing on Tuesday, we just weren’t right at 100% fitness-wise – you could see maybe a wee bit of jadedness in there – but, even so, I thought that in the first half we were in control and they never had a shot on goal.

“We got a goal with a bit of magic and we were thinking to ourselves ‘right, OK, we’ll go in at half-time and we’ll think we’ve done the job in the first half, keep doing what we’re doing. We can keep playing the way that we’re playing and we can come out with a win’.”

Robson, 46, was unhappy about Dunfermline’s first penalty, blaming what he believes to have been a harsh decision for turning the tide in their hosts’ favour.

“There were a few decisions that didn’t go our way and I think everybody can see that. I think it’s pretty clear,” he said.

“There was a ricochet off bodies and someone kicks the ball off Paul Hanlon’s hand and he’s got no chance to get it out of the way. The referee gave the penalty, which was frustrating for us. I was annoyed with the referee about that.”

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