Raith Rovers over 50s made the trip through to Toryglen on Sunday for this year’s Glasgow Life Trophy. Last year we were unable to exit the group stage so were hoping to improve on that this year. In our group this year we were playing Pollock Thistle, Dunfermline Dynamos, Gretna 2008, Townhead Strollers and Saints in the Community.

The first game in the group saw Pollock Thistle and Dunfermline Dynamos contest a tight game ending 2-2.

We were up next against former Scottish Cup winners Gretna 2008. The game started well for Raith. In the second minute Kev intercepted a pass out of defence and found Titch who calmly slotted the ball past the keeper. In the seventh minute Titch was on the scoreboard again after Scott intercepted a defensive pass and squared the ball to him. In ten minutes Gretna almost got on the scoreboard with a deflected shot but Pete got his hands to it and kept his first clean sheet of the day. Gretna 0-2 Raith Rovers

The next game in the league saw Townhead Strollers impressively defeat Saints in the Community 4-0 despite the heroics of Saints’ keeper, Gary.

We were up next against Pollock Thistle. Raith took an early lead in the fourth minute when Scott once again intercepted an opposition pass and found Titch who hit the ball high past the keeper. Despite further Raith pressure there is no further scoring until the tenth minute when Pollock score despite the Pollock forward backing forcefully into the Raith defender. Almost straight from the restart the ball finds itself at Ritchie’s feet and with the Pollock defenders backing away he unleashes a shot from not far inside the Pollock half which beats the keeper low to his left. Pollock Thistle 1-2 Raith Rovers.

We sit out the next three games which see Townhead Strollers beat Dunfermline Dynamos 2-1, Saints in the Community lose to Gretna 2008 0-1 and Pollock Thistle lose to Townhead Strollers 1-2.

Our next game was against Saints in the Community who we played only last month in the league winning 3-0 with hopes for a repeat. A tight game ensued until the eighth minute when a great passing move featuring all of the outfield players resulted in another goal from Titch. A further goal in the tenth minute this time from a break away which saw Titch strike the post with his shot but Kev netted the rebound. Raith had the ball in the net again in the eleventh minute but the referee ruled it out for either a running foul or an attacker in the box. We’re still not sure. However the third goal wasn’t far away when Kev broke through the Saints defence and slotted past the keeper. Saints in the Community 0-3 Raith Rovers.

Another three games were played before the much anticipated Fife derby with Dunfermline. Firstly Gretna 2008 beat Dunfermline Dynamos 1-0, then Pollock beat Saints in the Community 3-0 and Gretna 2008 and Townhead Strollers drawing 1-1.

And so to the Fife derby. Another great passing move in the third minute ended up with Titch adding to his haul for the day. From then on it all seemed to go a bit wrong for Raith with two many passes going astray and players being regularly out of position. Two great saves from Pete in the fourth and sixth minutes kept Raith in front. In thirteen minutes however the slick passing re-appeared and ended with a goal for Kev. A minute later, with Dunfermline heads down, a pass from Dave found Titch who could do no more than score. Dunfermline Dynamos 0-3 Raith Rovers.

There were two more games in the group before the final important game. Pollock Thistle beating Gretna 1-0 and Saints in the Community losing to Dunfermline Dynamos 1-2.

And so to the last group game of the day. Townhead Strollers versus Raith Rovers. Both teams had, at this point, qualified for the quarters with only who would finish where in the league to be decided. A win or draw for Raith would see then progress as league winners. The game was tight with Raith passing well and pressing Townhead when they had the ball. Townhead’s striker, who had bossed other teams in the group was successfully marshalled by Ritchie all game. In five minutes Raith almost went ahead when Scott’s shot came off the post. However it was Townhead who went ahead against the run of play in eight minutes with a break away goal. The lead didn’t last long though with Kev finding Scott a minute later and Scott scoring for 1-1. Continued pressure from Raith brought off some great saves from the Townhead keeper and the game seemed to be settling for a draw. However with the last kick of the game a long, speculative shot, suspiciously close to being in the Townhead half, sneaked past the un-sighted Pete and gave Townhead the win 2-1.

And so onto the quarter final where we found ourselves playing North East England team Grangetown who won group A. The game started badly for Raith with a foul in the penalty area leading to the award of a penalty to Grangetown. The penalty taker stepped up and dispatched the ball past Pete. However the ref adjudged that the player had taken more than the allowed one step and awarded a free kick to Raith. Despite containing Grangetown in their own half for most of the game Raith were unable to convert the pressure to goals and so the game ended 0-0 and we went to penalties. Before the penalty shoot out took place however both teams had a masterclass on how penalties were to be taken from the referee and tournament organiser Matt Ramsay. Grangetown won the toss and decided to shoot first. They scored their first and the keeper then saved Raith’s first to put the pressure on the Raith kickers. However on the third kick Grangetown missed and Raith scored so the teams were back even. With scores being equal after all outfield players had taken a penalty it was down to the keepers next. Both keepers scored and so sudden death went on through the outfield players again. Everyone scored until we came to the tenth kick. The Grangetown player slammed the ball past Pete in the Raith goal but the ref hadn’t blown his whistle and a retake was ordered. The player retook and the ball rolled past the post. Titch was up next and he coolly put the ball past the keeper for a 9-8 penalty win.

Our semi final was against Oriam who we last played, and beat, in the final of their own tournament in late 2019. Oriam opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a long shot from just inside our half which beat the keeper. A minute later a pass in from the side from Titch to Scott sees Scott smash the ball past the keeper to even things up. In nine minutes a pass from the side finds an Oriam player who shoots round the Raith defender un-sighting Pete in the Raith goal for 2-1. In eleven minutes a slide tackle by an Oriam player in the penalty area leads to the ref awarding a penalty which Ritchie takes to level the game once again. Two minutes Oriam take the lead again and despite Raith pressure they hold on to win 3-2.

And so we ended with a semi final loss but great pride from having reached the semi final playing an attractive passing game when we had the ball and an aggressive, non-contact, pressing game without it, while only committing four running fouls throughout the seven games. If we can continue this style and form into the league next month we should see a nice crop of points.