And so we reach the final round of fixtures in this year’s league. We come into this round in third place in the league. Four goals ahead of Carnoustie Panmure in fourth and one point behind Luncarty FC in second. Dundee Utd CT sit in first place seven points ahead of us in third place and catching them is going to be a big ask. But we play them first today so have a chance to take something out of their lead but we really need other results to go our way as well. However we receive news that Saints in the Community are unable to field a team today so the four teams they will be playing will be awarded a 3-0 win. This will help us in our points gathering but unfortunately Saints are also due to play Dundee Utd and Luncarty so it’s a double edged sword.

And so to the games. First up Dundee Utd CT and we really need to take the points here. The game starts well for us with pressure bringing a shot from Ritchie in the second minute that goes close. In five minutes a tackle from behind in the penalty area sees Chillo go down and the ref awards us a penalty. Dundee Utd protest vociferously (must be something in the Dundee water!) which ends up with their team captain, John, receiving a yellow card. After all the kerfuffle John Wylie steps up (just one step) and fires the ball behind the keeper and we have a one nil lead. From the restart United play the ball up the pitch and bring out a great save from Keith. In the eleventh minute Chillo blocks a cross from the corner and the United player seems to stumble. The ref awards a penalty and, despite our reservations, we accept the ref’s decision. A minute later a shot from the United left goes wide and the ref adjudges Keith has touched it before it crossed the line and awards a corner. From the corner Mikey clears the ball but his foot is adjudged to be hanging in the box so it’s another penalty to United which they score again. With three minutes to go it’s backs to the wall time for United as Raith press hard to try and equalise but to no avail and the game finishes two penalties to one for United.
Dundee Utd CT 2-1 Raith Rovers.

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

So after the first round of matches Dundee Utd increase their lead at the top and Carnoustie move into second place on goals scored.

And so to our second game against now second place Carnoustie Panmure. It’s a tight game as expected with neither team giving much away and there is little to note in the first ten minutes except a lot of effort and no reward for either team. In the last five minutes Raith up the pace with first a shot from Stephen MacCrimmon and then a shot from Ritchie going close. In the fourteenth minute Mikey Curtis steps up with a shot followed by a John Wylie shot that goes for a corner. With time running out Raith are awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area. Carnoustie switch off and Mikey takes it quickly passing back to John Wylie who lets rip and smashes the ball past the keeper for a one nil lead with seconds to go.
Carnoustie Panmure 0-1 Raith Rovers

Dundee Utd CT 2-1 Luncarty
Dundee FC 1-2 Montrose
Carnoustie Panmure 0-1 Raith Rovers
Tayport Yellow 4-0 Highland Utd

And the table changes again. Dundee Utd stay at the top and are now un-catchable but we move into second, relegating Carnoustie and Luncarty to third and fourth respectively.

We sit the next game out as we are due to play Saints in the Community and are awarded a 3-0 win.
Dundee FC 0-1 Highland Utd
Carnoustie Panmure 2-1 Luncarty
Tayport Yellow 2-2 Montrose
Saints in the Community 0-3 Raith Rovers

With Saints due to play two fixtures in the last two rounds and that leaving Dundee Utd and Carnoustie free during the fourth round their game now replaces the United Saints game.
Remaining walkover matches:
Saints in the Community 0-3 Dundee Utd CT
Saints in the Community 0-3 Luncarty

So we go into the last match against Highland Utd knowing that only a win will secure second place in the league. A draw and a big result for Luncarty and/or Carnoustie Panmure could mix up second, third and fourth places.
The game starts brightly for Raith with a Ritchie Malcolm shot bringing off a good save from the keeper for a corner. A few more great saves from the keeper until the third minute when John Wylie collects a pass from Ritchie and finally beats the keeper for 1-0. Three minutes later it’s 2-0 when Chillo is set free by Stevie and finds the net. 2-0. In eight minutes we are awarded a penalty for three running offences and Chillo steps up to take it. And smashes it off the post!!! With five minutes to go we put the game beyond Highland’s reach when after a mix up in defence the ball lands at Stevie’s feet and he puts it between the keeper’s legs for 3-0. With two minutes to go Haig gets the ball in midfield and instead of passing it to Charles who is free at the corner of the box smashes it from 15 yards past the keeper for 4-0. With time running out Mikey Curtis takes the ball down the right wing and crosses. John Wylie steps over the ball and it lands at Charles’ feet. He controls the ball and places it low to the keeper’s right to round off the game 5-0.

Tayport Yellow 2-1 Dundee FC
Raith Rovers 5-0 Highland Utd
Montrose 2-4 Luncarty FC
Carnoustie Panmure 2-0 Dundee Utd CT

And so we end the league in second place and secure promotion to the Premiership. Back where we belong?

Congratulations to Dundee Utd CT for winning the league almost unbeaten and a huge thank you to all of the other teams in the league for what was, for the most part, a good season played in the right way. A huge thank you as well to all of the Raith squad for their commitment and for digging deep at times in all games and competitions this season.

One more competition to go this year, which we’ll have details of soon, the Raith Rovers Christmas Cup. Hope to see as many of our friends from the East League as possible.