Raith win seals perfect day for goal hero Matthews

Dad Phil and mum Karen were both celebrating their birthdays over the weekend and marked the occasion by sponsoring the match at Stark's Park.

Several members of the Matthews family watched on proudly as Ross scored the second goal in the 2-0 win that has given the Kirkcaldy side a fighting chance of avoiding relegation.

And with the match sponsors also getting the honour of picking the man of the match - there was only ever going to be one winner.

Matthews (21), said: "It was only my second goal for the club and I couldn't have picked a better day to score.

"My whole family was here, and you probably noticed I got man of the match - that was my dad sponsoring the match!

"There was about 20 of them there, and I could hear them screaming. For quite a lot of them that was the first time seeing me play.

"I had a feeling this morning I was going to score because the gaffer told me I was playing a bit higher up the park, and I said to my dad, I hope you put a bet on me to score!

"Anyone could have got man of the match - everyone was brilliant."

Matthews produced a tenacious, all-action display despite only returning to training on Thursday after missing the defeats to Falkirk and Dunfermline with a calf injury.

"I'm just glad I got through the 90 minutes and got the win," he said.

"Everybody was saying in the dressing room beforehand that we really don't care how we play, we just need to grind out the three points.

"We're in a pretty poor position at the moment and we just need as many wins as we can get between now and the end of the season."

"We've got Hibs a week on Wednesday, and anything against them is a bonus.

"Then it's down to the big two games (away to St Mirren and home to Ayr) to finish the season. We always knew it was gong to come down to that so we need to win them."

Morton hit the post three times in the match, but Raith held onto their clean sheet to claim a deserved victory.

Boss John Hughes added: "The performance was good enough to win the match, and I'm pleased for everyone connected to the club, but I'm not getting carried away.

"It's three points but there's still a lot of work to do."