Sunday 27th August saw the penultimate round of fixtures in this year’s WFS East League Championship. At the beginning of the day Raith were sitting in fourth place, two points behind one of today’s opponents Luncarty FC. And with the three teams above Raith being guaranteed at least 3 points before a ball was kicked it was imperative we got as many points as possible today to keep up our challenge.

First up we played Tayport Yellows who we beat earlier in the season 3-1. The game starts well for Raith as Haig passes in from the corner to Kev who coolly shoots past the keeper. In two minutes more Raith pressure leads to a shot from Stevie which hits the post and rolls out. Tayport have their first shot on goal in the third minute when some slack play at the back brings out a great save from Keith in goals. In eleven minutes a shot from distance from Ritchie is saved by the keeper but it’s not long until Haig gets on the scoresheet with a deflected shot which beats the keeper. With the game coming to a conclusion the referee blows for a third running offense against Tayport and awards Raith a penalty. Scott Jackson steps up to take it and, with almost the last touch of the game, shoots wide.
Raith 2-0 Tayport

Saints in the Community 0-0 Carnoustie Panmure
Raith 2-0 Tayport Yellows
Montrose 0-2 Dundee Utd CT
Luncarty FC 1-0 Dundee

Our second game is against Luncarty FC and one which we really need to win as we look to leapfrog them in the league. The game seems to start well for Raith with a shot from Stevie in the second minute but it was well saved by the keeper. However Luncarty head straight up the pitch and the referee harshly adjudges Chillo to have fouled one of their players in the penalty area and awards a penalty. Luncarty score despite Keith getting down well and getting near the ball. The game turns round in the fifth minute when an exquisite ball through the defence finds Chillo on his own in front of the keeper and he enthusiastically beats the keeper for the equaliser. Within a minute it’s 2-1 as Chillo turns provider this time passing to Stevie who beats the keeper. In the eighth minute the ref calls a second apparent running foul on Kev and a third for the team and awards Luncarty another penalty. This time the penalty goes low to Keith’s right and he gets a hand to it and saves. From here on it was possession football from Raith. Slick accurate passing and use of the keeper when we had the ball and hard pressing without the ball closing the game and Luncarty out.
Luncarty FC 1-2 Raith

Montrose 0-0 Carnoustie Panmure
Luncarty FC 1-2 Raith
Tayport Yellow 0-0 Saints in the Community
Dundee Utd CT 3-0 Dundee

Next up was an under-strength Dundee team who had done well to have a team for the day due to illness and injury. The first eight minutes of the game were largely uneventful bar a shot from Ritchie that went wide. In eight minutes a through pass to Kev allows him to shoot past the keeper for our opening goal. A minute later another pass finds Stevie free in front of goals and he scores to double his tally for the day (and the season). In the twelfth minute Haig hits the post but gets himself on the scoresheet within a minute to make it 3-0. In the thirteenth minute my notes say there was a good pass back to the keeper from Charles so it must have been good for it to have been written down. With the game coming to a close, a shot from Ritchie brings out a great save from Gavin in the Dundee goal to keep the score at 3-0.
Raith 3-0 Dundee

Dundee Utd CT 4-2 Tayport Yellows
Montrose 1-1 Saints in the Community
Raith 3-0 Dundee

And so we were on to the last game of the day against Montrose. With both teams having played three straight games before this, it was never going to be a classic. Both teams huffed and puffed but did little to test either keeper until in eight minutes a superb shot from distance on the Montrose right beat Keith for Montrose to take the lead. In the tenth minute though a third running offense by Montrose gave Raith a penalty which, after some discussion, Haig stepped up to dispatch past the keeper. The remaining five minutes brought a lot of Raith pressure but no goals and the game finished 1-1.
Raith 1-1 Montrose

Luncarty FC 2-1 Tayport Yellows
Raith 1-1 Montrose
Dundee 0-1 Carnoustie Panmure

And so we ended the day a point behind Luncarty but a place further up the league as Carnoustie Panmure drop from second to fourth. Our final games of the season in October see us play against top of the league Dundee Utd CT, the two teams directly below us in the league, Carnoustie Panmure and Saints in the Community, and newcomers Highland United. Realistically we need to get full points if we are to bridge the seven point gap to the top or the one point gap to second place and also keep Carnoustie Panmure from leapfrogging us.

But, “If we need ten…….”