Raith Rovers unable to claim third win in four games v Partick Thistle
Raith Rovers’ goalless draw away to Partick Thistle on Friday tightened the Glaswegians’ grip on fourth place in football’s William Hill Championship and, in conjunction with a 2-1 win for Greenock Morton hosting Queen’s Park a day later, dealt what could prove to be a killer blow to the Fifers’ play-off hopes.
A third win in four matches for the Kirkcaldy club against Thistle in Maryhill would have taken them to within four points of the top-four play-off places with a game in hand on player and interim manager Brian Graham’s hosts, but instead they’re now seven points shy, having been overtaken by Morton, their next opponents, away on Tuesday, with kick-off at Cappielow Park at 7.45pm.
Ahead of that midweek away-day, Partick are on 45 points from 30 fixtures, Morton fifth on 40 from 29 and Raith sixth on 38 from 29.
Friday’s 0-0 draw in front of a crowd of 3,213 was a game that could have gone either way – with appeals by Raith for a second-half penalty for a 47th-minute tug on defender Paul Hanlon’s shirt by Josh Reid rejected by referee Calum Scott and the visitors with on-loan goalkeeper Josh Rae to thank for keeping out headers by Graham and Robbie Crawford that might otherwise have been match-winners, earning a third clean sheet on the bounce – but ended up going neither.
Another controversial call that went against Raith – seeking their third win of the season versus the Jags following ones at home at Stark’s Park by 1-0 last August and 3-0 in February, sandwiching a 1-1 draw on the road in November – was over a yellow card for a 37th-minute Stuart Bannigan tackle on midfielder Jordan Doherty reckoned by visiting manager Barry Robson to have been worthy of a sending-off.
Robson regards Friday’s stalemate as two points dropped rather than one gained.
“We were probably just lacking at the top end of the pitch,” the 46-year-old told Raith TV afterwards.
“We just lacked that zip and that was a bit frustrating for me as I really wanted to win the game.
“Everybody might think it’s a good point but I don’t – I want us to get to that mentality of we come here and we win – although we did come away with a clean sheet.
“I think we probably edged it in the first half. I thought we were good without really creating that many great opportunities.
“In the second half, they probably edged it over us. They were better than us in the second half.”
Robson added: “One thing I am happy about is that we’ve got a game in hand, and if we win that game, we’re still in this. We’ve still got a chance to keep fighting and going.”
Partick Thistle: Lewis Budinauckas, Kyle Turner (Zander Mackenzie 77), Lee Ashcroft, Dan O’Reilly, Josh Reid, Stuart Bannigan, Luke McBeth, Robbie Crawford, Aidan Fitzpatrick (Terry Ablade 86), Logan Chalmers, Brian Graham (Alex Jakubiak 67). Unused substitutes: David Mitchell, Luis Cameron, Matthew Falconer, Nick Lockhart, Liam Rooney
Raith Rovers: Josh Rae, Callum Fordyce, Euan Murray, Paul Hanlon, Josh Mullin, Jordan Doherty, Ross Matthews, Lewis Stevenson, Dylan Easton (Kai Montagu 85), Finlay Pollock (Aidan Connolly 74), Jamie Gullan (Aiden Marsh 83). Unused substitutes: Kevin Dabrowski, Liam Dick, Lewis Gibson, Shaun Byrne, George Gitau