Raith Rovers’ Rollercoaster Day: Goals and Controversies

With an under strength team, due to the late fixture date change, we made our way to Dundee on Sunday more in hope than expectation. With games against the current top two in the league and games against the two teams directly above and below us, points were going to be hard to get. But we would give it our best.

The day’s team included Gavin Gowans, Ritchie Malcolm, Kev Henderson, John Wylie, Fraser Terris, Neil Galloway and Ally Grant.

First up was second placed Arbroath and the game started poorly with Raith conceding a goal in under a minute. Parity was achieved in the second minute when Arbroath were penalised for a third non walking offence as referee Sean stamped his mark on how the game was going to be officiated. Ally Grant stepped up and scored the penalty. In six minutes Raith took the lead with a Neil Galloway shot through a defender’s legs that unsighted the Arbroath keeper. Yet, the inevitable third running offence for Raith raised its ugly head a minute later and Arbroath scored from the spot. In fourteen minutes some good interplay from the Raith front line saw the ball ending at Fraser’s feet and he confidently beat the keeper to give Raith, what looked like, a late winner. With the time running down an Arbroath shot from close range caught Ritchie on the arm and the ref awarded a penalty. How he was supposed to avoid the ball is anyone’s guess but the ref’s decision is final so… Arbroath score the penalty and end the game 3-3.

Raith Rovers 3-3 Arbroath – Maroon
Oriam 0-1 Dundee East
Luncarty FC 1-0 Fairfield
Hearts 0-5 Forfar WF

Game 2 only gets harder as we faced top of the league Forfar. Forfar got the ball in the net in the third minute but the referee, harshly, disallowed the goal for the player being in the keeper’s box. Unfortunately within the minute Forfar did go one up when an intercepted pass was fired past Gav in the Raith net. In six minutes Forfar’s Tam Gauld received the ball at the edge of the Raith box and beat Gav again for a 2-0 lead. A minute later Neil shot from a tight angle on the left and beat the keeper through his legs. The game was back on. Forfar’s ‘Gogs’ Smith nonetheless had other ideas. A long ball up the right allowed him just a little space and he smashed the ball high into the top corner of the net. The game continued back and forth for the final half of the game with neither keeper really being tested allowing Forfar to run out 3-1 winners.

Oriam 1-1 St James
Luncarty FC 0-2 Arbroath – Maroon
Hearts 2-5 Dundee East
Forfar WF 3-1 Raith

And so we moved on to Game 3 and Luncarty. We had a tight game against Luncarty three weeks earlier where only a last minute penalty separated the sides. Yet, with both teams missing players from that game, maybe this game would have been different. The game went well for Raith in the fourth minute when a tackle in the penalty area gave us a penalty. Ally Grant stepped up once again to score his second penalty of the day. Three minutes later and it’s three Luncarty runs and another penalty to Raith. Once again Ally steps up but this time the penalty is saved. The rebound though comes straight out to Ally and he beat the keeper at the second attempt. A minute later Luncarty were back in the game beating Gav to make the score 2-1. Both teams continued to press looking for a winner or the equaliser. True to form though Raith commit a third running foul and the resultant penalty tied the game 2-2.

Luncarty FC 2-2 Raith
Hearts 1-4 St James
Forfar WF 1-1 Arbroath – Maroon
Fairfield 1-3 Dundee East

Finally our last game of the day, Dundee East. We drew with Dundee East on the opening day of the season but their three earlier games on the day had seen them win convincingly scoring nine goals overall.
In the second minute Neil Galloway scores his third for the day with a lovely shot from the left. Dundee were stung by this and pressed heavily against a stubborn but resolute Raith defence. Until the fifth minute when a controversial penalty was awarded. A Dundee player goes down feigning contact with Fraser and the ref awards a penalty. Facing his fourth penalty of the day Gav pulls off a great save to deny what would have been a great injustice. Dundee continued to push but couldn’t find many ways through the Raith team but when they did they came up against Gav having a great game which included a brilliant double save. It wasn’t all one way though with shots from Ritchie, Kev and Fraser failing to beat Scott in the Dundee goal giving Dundee hope of equalising. But Raith held for our first victory of the day and a five point haul for the day.

Hearts 0-2 Oriam
Fairfield 2-5 St James
Forfar WF 2-1 Luncarty
Dundee East 0-1 Raith

Fairfield 2-3 Oriam
Arbroath 3-3 St James

Reflections
A hard day at the office but all things considered a reasonable outcome. Two draws, one of which should have been a win, and a win against a team playing well on the day until they met us is a job well done.

John Wylie Shines in Raith Rovers’ April League Matches

The team traveled once again to Dundee for the second round of league fixtures on 6th April. They hoped to improve on the first round results. Fixtures for this round were, former league champions St James, Oriam, last year’s Christmas cup winners Hearts and finally Fairfield.

First up St James who we hadn’t butted heads with for over a year. The game started well for Raith with John Wylie getting the ball in the net in the first minute. However ref Sean adjudged him to have been “not walking” as he struck the ball and disallowed the goal. A minute later, John struck again. This time, the post came to St James’ aid. The score remained 0-0. The game flowed back and forth with both teams canceling each other out. In the 13th minute, St James scored with a scuffed shot. Harry managed to get a fingertip to it but unfortunately, it trickled into the net. A minute later John Wylie almost leveled but this time hit the bar. John’s persistence paid off in the end. As the seconds ticked down, he managed to beat the keeper. His shot went through a group of players. 1-1
Hearts 3-3 Fairfield
Luncarty FC 2-1 Dundee East
Oriam 2-2 Arbroath – Maroon
Raith Rovers 1-1 St James

Next up were Oriam and Raith again started with John Wylie getting the ball in the net in the third minute. However as in the last game Sean adjudged him to be not walking and disallowed the goal. Within seconds, Oriam committed three running offences. This gave us a chance to take the lead with a penalty. Scott McIntosh had practiced penalty techniques before today’s games. He stepped up confidently. He didn’t lift his foot and HIT THE POST!! In the 7th minute Harry pulled off a spectacular but pointless save as the Oriam player was penalised for running. In the 11th minute a great opportunistic shot from Graham flew wide. 13 minutes in, a crunching tackle on Scott earned a yellow card for the Oriam player. This tackle finished Scott’s involvement in the game. With the game coming to an end, both teams were desperate to score. Oriam got the ball in the net from tight on Harry’s right. However, the ref said the player had cut across the keeper’s box and disallowed the goal. 0-0
Forfar WF 0-0 Dundee East
Hearts 0-2 Arbroath – Maroon
Luncarty 0-0 St James
Oriam 0-0 Raith Rovers

The third game against Hearts began perfectly. Ritchie Malcolm beat the keeper low to his right with a ranged shot within seconds. This was almost followed up by a second from Ally Grant a minute later but was well saved. Hearts quickly leveled the game with a long ball to Gary Bate who rounded Ritchie and beat Harry. 1-1 after only two minutes. After 5 minutes, Gary Bate and Paul Burns played a one-two. This left Paul free in front of Harry. Paul then slotted past him for 2-1 to Hearts. Both teams continued to press. There were chances for each team, including a good save from a Haig shot. Heart’s Gary also hit the post. Hearts managed the latter part of the game. No more scoring occurred, so we lost our first game of the session. 1-2
Fairfield 0-3 Arbroath – Maroon
Forfar WF 6-0 St James
Hearts 2-1 Raith Rovers
Luncarty FC 0-0 Oriam

Our final game of the session – Fairfield. In the second minute Ritchie gets a shot on goal after a Raith free kick but the keeper saves. Two minutes later John intercepts a wayward pass at the edge of the Fairfield box and beats the keeper. 1-0 In six minutes, Ritchie takes a free kick deep in the Raith half. It finds Tam, who passes to Scott. Scott scores. 2-0 Three minutes later John intercepts another pass, further out this time, and again beats the keeper. 3-0 In 13 minutes John receives a pass from Tam. Looking for his hat trick, he beats the keeper for a third time this game. 4-0 With the clock running down Fairfield get a breakaway and Harry has to be lively to keep his clean sheet. 4-0
Dundee East 0-1 St James
Fairfield 0-4 Raith Rovers
Forfar WF 2-2 Oriam
Hearts 2-2 Luncarty FC

The final two games of the session were:
Arbroath – Maroon 2-1 Dundee East
Fairfield 2-5 Forfar WF

Reflections: A better day at the office in terms of results than the first week. We maintained the same good general play and possession. We are still playing without a recognised striker. Hopefully, the goals tally will increase as we are creating the opportunities. We are just not finishing them. Player of the weekend has to be John Wylie. He scored a hat trick in the last game. His stamina is impressive, as he completed an 8 mile run in Edinburgh in the morning. Next time he does that, though, he’ll be fined!!

Raith Rovers’ Penalty Struggles in Opening Matches

The 2025 league season started on Sunday 2nd March. despite a tough opening group of fixtures the squad was looking forward to a, hopefully, successful afternoon. We were starting with a tough fixture against constant premiership team Arbroath, followed by last year’s unbeaten championship winners Forfar, then top four premiership team Luncarty and finally current premiership champions Dundee East.

We started with a tie against Arbroath – Maroon. The game started well for Raith with a foul on Davey Ramsay in the penalty area leading to a penalty. John Wylie stepped up and beat Dave Beattie in the Arbroath goal however the ref adjudged him to have lifted his foot and disallowed the goal. Two minutes later Arbroath were pinged for a third running offense and it was time for another penalty to Raith. This time Kev Henderson stepped up. He hit the ball without raising his foot but “Beats” guessed right and saved the penalty. It wasn’t long until there was another penalty. This time it was for Arbroath for three running fouls against Raith. The Arbroath player struck it high into the top right corner to beat Harry. 0-1 Raith continued to press but found it hard to pass the ball through a dense Arbroath defense. However in the 12th minute Arbroath gave away another running penalty. This time Davey Ramsay stepped up and beat the keeper low to his left. With time running out, and against the run of play, a great save from Harry gave Arbroath a corner. From the corner they secured a kick in from the left wing. With all of the Raith players concentrating on the ball no one noticed the Arbroath player on his own at the right hand side of the box and when the ball got to him he beat Harry to give Arbroath a 1-2 win.
Raith Rovers 1-2 Arbroath – Maroon
Dundee East 1-2 Oriam
Fairfield CSH 2-2 Luncarty
Forfar WF 3-0 Hearts

Next up were Forfar with a few familiar faces in their squad. A quick start for Raith saw Kev score from distance after some good build up work in the first minute. In the second minute a John Wylie shot was saved and, from the resultant corner Scott hit the post. A minute later and John hits the bar. It’s constant pressure from Raith. However in five minutes Gordon “Gogs” Smith takes the ball down Forfar’s left wing and fires in a spectacular shot to level the score. In the ninth minute the referee awards a penalty to Forfar after a tackle in the penalty area. Gogs steps up to get his second goal of the game for a 1=2 Forfar lead. two minutes later a shot from Kev leads to a corner from which Neil hits the post. There’s more raith pressure until Gogs once again gets a good shot in which brings out a good save from Harry. However a minute later Forfar get a third from a contested ball at the edge of the box. With time running out, and almost the last touch of the game, Kev Henderson gets a shot off and scores to cut the deficit to one.
St James 1-1 Oriam
Arbroath – Maroon 2-2 Luncarty
Dundee East 2-1 Hearts
Raith Rovers 2-3 Forfar WF

Then it was on to game three and Luncarty. Another quick start from Raith saw Davey Ramsay shoot just wide in the second minute. Raith continued to press until, against the run of play, Luncarty scored in the eighth minute. A minute later it was three runs by Luncarty and a Raith penalty. Davey Ramsay beat the keeper but the ref disallowed it for another raised foot. Two minutes later and it was a penalty to Luncarty for three running offenses. This time the shooter missed to the keeper’s right but was also pinged for a raised foot. Raith continued to push for the remainder of the game but to no avail and Luncarty ran out winners 0-1.
Raith Rovers 0-1 Luncarty
St James 2-1 Hearts
Arbroath Maroon 0-0 Forfar WF
Dundee East 2-2 Fairfield CSH

Our final game of the day was against Dundee East and started badly with Dundee East scoring through Andy Elwood in the second minute. From then the game developed into a bit of a slugfest with Raith dominating the possession but unable to break a stubborn Dundee defence. A rare Dundee East shot in the tenth minute brought out a great save from Harry and although Dundee did beat Harry the scorer was rightly pulled up for running. Then in the thirteenth minute Raith restored parity with a fine strike from the right by Ally Grant. Raith continued to press but were unable to breach the Dundee defence for a second time and the game finished 1-1.
Oriam 1-1 Hearts
St James 3-1 Fairfield CSH
Luncarty 0-1 Forfar
Raith Rovers 1-1 Dundee East

The final two games of the afternoon were:
Oriam 3-0 Fairfield CSH
St James 0-0 Arbroath – Maroon

Reflections: Not a great day at the office, results wise. However the general play and possession was very good. Putting away some of our penalties and being a bit more disciplined could have turned results our way. Penalty taking practice will be taking priority over the next couple of weeks.

Raith Rovers’ Close League Battle: A Thrilling Recap

Raith over 50s went into the last round of fixtures in WFS’s East Region League on Sunday 27th October one point behind leaders, Dundee East, with each team having 4 games to play. Meanwhile a point behind Rovers lay Luncarty and lurking a further point back were Hearts. It was going to be a tight day.

Back row: Willie Carroll, Haig Hutchison, Harry Gilfillan, Davey Ramsey, Ritchie Malcolm, Charles Doherty
Front row: Neil Galloway, Ian (Chillo) McMillan, Kevin Henderson, Scott McIntosh, John Wylie

First up was Arbroath. Last year’s champions were having a hard season and were currently sitting 6th in the league. Despite this Raith were expecting a tough game and that’s how it played out. For most of the game both teams cancelled each other out attacking and defending well while both keepers pulled off some big saves. However the deadlock was broken in the 13th minute when, super-sub, Neil Galloway, received a pass from Davey and shot low past the Arbroath keeper to open the scoring. With taking the lead late in the game and knowing all points were going to be crucial on the day Raith played the game out in a controlled manner to run out winners 1-0.
Luncarty 1-3 Hearts
Oriam 1-1 Dundee East
Raith Rovers 1-0 Arbroath – Maroon
St James 2-1 Tayport – Reds
Raith Rovers 25pts
Dundee East 24pts
Hearts 23pts
Luncarty 21pts

Game two saw St James as the opposition. Another team not having their expected season. Long time dominant force in the league they had started the day second bottom of the league but after one game had risen above Arbroath into sixth place. A tight start to the game turned Raith’s way in the 3rd minute when a pass from Davey found Chillo who turned and shot 1-0. Three minutes later St James tied the game up but that parity was short-lived when a St James player stepped into their keeper’s area and the ref awarded a penalty to Raith. Up stepped Kev Henderson, planted his standing foot firmly beside the ball and fired past the keeper. 2-1 There few more opportunities for both sides but Harry in the Raith goal again pulled off some great saves and Raith held on to record their second win of the day 2-1.
Linlithgow Rose 1-4 Dundee East
Luncarty 0-2 Arbroath – Maroon
Oriam 1-0 Tayport – Reds
Raith Rovers 2-1 St James
Raith Rovers 28pts
Dundee East 27pts
Hearts 23pts
Luncarty 21pts

Third game in and the team faced Oriam. Oriam started the day just below the top four in fifth place and were maintaining that position. Raith opened the scoring in the 4th minute when Scott took a free kick, passing to Kev who beat the keeper for a 1-0 lead. The lead however was short-lived as a rising Oriam shot caught Scott high on his arm in the penalty area and the ref awarded Oriam a penalty. 1-1 With points winning prizes Raith pushed hard for a winner but had to remain vigilant to not lose a goal to a breakaway or a “three runs” penalty. However the pressure paid off in the 13th minute when some scrappy play at the edge of the Oriam box allowed Scott to score. 2-1 And that’s how it finished as Raith managed the game out.
Oriam 1-2 Raith Rovers
Linlithgow Rose 0-1 Tayport – Reds
Luncarty 1-3 St James
Hearts 2-0 Arbroath – Maroon
Raith Rovers 31pts
Dundee East 27pts
Hearts 26pts
Luncarty 21pts

So Raith went into their last game, against Linlithgow Rose, knowing that a win would secure the league title. Any other result and the league would be decided by the results of the last two games of the day which involved the other two teams in the hunt. The game started badly for Raith as they seemed to switch off and allowed Linlithgow to score in the second minute. However they regained their composure and for the next six minutes dominated the game with Harry, in the Raith net, foiling any Linlithgow break-a-ways. The game turned in the 10th minute when the ref awarded Linlithgow a, what some saw as controversial, penalty. The Linlithgow player, heading towards the corner, played the ball a metre or so in front of him. Ritchie came round him and played the ball, without any contact and started to advance. All seemed well until the Linlithgow player called for a foul which was then given. The penalty was scored and Raith were now up against it. From this point on it was all out attack from Raith to try and salvage the game. However desperation led to gaps at the back and Linlithgow punished Raith with goals in the 12th minute and another just before full time. 0-4
Dundee East 1-1 Tayport – Reds
Hearts 3-1 St James
Linlithgow Rose 4-0 Raith Rovers
Luncarty 0-0 Oriam
Raith Rovers 31pts
Hearts 29pts
Dundee East 28pts
Luncarty 22pts

Going into the last two games, Arbroath – Maroon V Dundee East and Hearts V Linlithgow Rose, a draw in each game would see Raith win the league. A win for Hearts would see them win the league. A loss or draw for Hearts and a win for Dundee East would see Dundee East win the league on goal difference. It was all down to these two matches and Raith now had no say. For a while it was looking good for Raith with Hearts drawing 1-1 with Linlithgow and Dundee East drawing 2-2 with Arbroath. However two late goals for Dundee East, and no further scoring in the other match, gave Dundee the title.

Raith Rovers: Second Place in East Region League Standings

Raith Rovers went into the third round of fixtures in the East region league on Sunday 11th August sitting second in the league. One point behind Hearts in first place, two ahead of Dundee East in second and four ahead of Luncarty in third. The day’s matches would see them play all three sides at the top, as well as Tayport – Reds.

Back row: Colin ‘Titch’ Hardie, Willie Carroll (Mgr.), Davey Ramsay, Harry Gilfillan, Ally Grant, Ritchie Malcolm
Front row: Ian ‘Chillo’ McMillan, John Wylie, Neil Galloway, Scott McIntosh

First up was a change to the fixture order. Hearts were delayed so the second round of fixtures would be played first and then they would catch up.

So, in a change to our advertised programme, first up was Tayport -Reds.

Raith started well when, in the second minute, a pass from Ritchie found Titch, who despatched the ball past the Tayport keeper. The lead was short-lived, however, as Tayport hit back within 90 seconds with a shot from nothing on the right, which beat Harry in the goals. In eight minutes, the ref penalised Raith with a penalty for Ritchie being in the box. Considering he was forced into the box by a Tayport shoulder, this was a bit harsh. Tayport scored for the penalty to take a 2-1 lead. In twelve minutes, the game is effectively over as Harry, unsighted, fumbles a shot from the right, and Tayport increase their lead to 3-1. Despite a few more attempts at goal from both sides, the score remains the same.
Tayport – Reds 3-1 Raith Rovers
St James 1-2 Linlithgow Rose
Dundee East 2-1 Luncarty
Arbroath – Maroon 1-2 Oriam

The second game in the session was against Dundee East. The game looked to have gotten off to a poor start when Neil tackled a Dundee East player from behind in the penalty area and the ref awarded a penalty. However, up stepped Harry to save the penalty from a low shot down the middle of the goals. Within a minute Raith were one up when a pass from Titch to Scott was deflected up in the air by a Dundee defender. Standing just outside the box Scott rifled an unbeatable volley into the roof of the net for 1-0. In the 6th minute a Dundee player wandered into the box and and the ref blew for a penalty. Ally stepped up to take the penalty and beat the keeper low to his left. As the team turned to restart the ref ordered a retake as he hadn’t blown his whistle. Ally stepped up to retake and hit the ball in exactly the same place. However this time the keeper guessed right and saved. In the 9th minute a 50-50 tackle by Ally in the penalty area is penalised and Dundee are awarded their second penalty of the game. But it was Harry ‘s turn to save the day again with a superb save to keep Raith 1-0 up. Raith managed to take the lead in the 12th minute when Titch beat the keeper from in front of the goals. And that ended the scoring for a Raith win.
Arbroath 1-3 St James
Dundee East 0-2 Raith
Hearts 2-1 Oriam
Linlithgow Rose 1-3 Luncarty

Raith sat out round three:
St James 3-4 Oriam
Tayport Reds 0-1 Luncarty
Arbroath – Maroon 1-1 Linlithgow Rose
Dundee East 2-0 Hearts

The penultimate round of fixtures had Raith playing against Perthshire side, Luncarty. A tight start to the game saw the teams level until the 7th minute when Scott turned at the edge of the Luncarty box and shot past the keeper. Within a minute though Titch racked up a third team running foul so it was a penalty to Luncarty. Unfortunately, for Raith, Harry was unable to pull off his previous heroics again and Luncarty scored to tie the match. In eleven minutes the referee, harshly, adjudged contact in the area to be instigated by Ritchie who, at the time, had control of the ball and awarded another penalty to Luncarty which they scored from. The remainder of the game saw Luncarty play out by keeping possession and running the clock down.
Tayport – Reds 3-1 Hearts
Raith Rovers 1-2 Luncarty
Oriam 2-1 Linlithgow Rose
St James 1-3 Dundee East

The final game of the session saw Raith take on a Hearts team that they had beaten in a 4-3 goal fest in the Glasgow Cup four weeks ago. This game, however, turned out to be a lower scoring game. Indeed, the only goal and, to be honest, the only thing of note in the game was a third minute move that saw John find Titch free with only the keeper to beat, which he did. And that’s how the game ended.
Raith 1-0 Hearts
Tayport – Reds 2-2 Arbroath – Maroon

And so the day finished with Raith remaining in second, Dundee East jumping from third to first, Hearts falling from first to fourth and Luncarty jumping one place up to third. With only 3 points separating the top four and Raith being only one ahead of the other three in goal difference it’s going to be an exciting end to the season, and the fight for Champions League placings, in October.

WFS East League Premiership 2024 Round 2

After last week’s disappointment in Glasgow we headed up to Dundee for Round 2 of this year’s league. Today we’re locking horns with Arbroath (last year’s champions), Oriam (last year’s runners up) Linlithgow Rose (last weekend’s Glasgow Trophy winners) and St James (perennial Premiership contenders).

Back row: Ritchie Malcolm, Ian (Chillo) McMillan, Harry Gilfillan, Willie Carroll, Davie Ramsay
Front row: Kevin Henderson, John Wylie, Charles Doherty, Colin (Titch) Hardie, Haig Hutchison

Up first are Arbroath. We start well with a well worked goal with some slick passing between Kev and John allowing ‘Titch’ to get free on the right and fire the ball passed the keeper from a tight angle. 1-0. The lead is short-lived though as within two minutes we’re pinged for a third running foul and Arbroath are awarded a penalty which they score to tie things up. 1-1 However two minutes later it’s our turn as Arbroath turn sinners and we’re awarded a penalty. John Wylie steps up to slot it passed the keeper like he does so often but this time the keeper saves and the score remains the same. In the eleventh minute a goal-bound drive from Titch looks to have the keeper beat but he stretches out a hand and brings out a brilliant one handed save. A minute later though Titch manages to beat him again. Finding space on the right he shoots from a tight angle and beats the keeper. 2-1. From now on it’s game management, keeping the ball and starving Arbroath of any possession until the ref blows the final whistle.

Luncarty FC 1-1 Hearts
Oriam 1-2 Dundee East CSC
Raith Rovers 2-1 Arbroath – Maroon
St James 3-0 Tayport – Reds

Next up we face St James. We start well again opening the scoring in the second minute. John Wylie has the ball in a crowded corner but manages to flick it out to Chillo at the corner of the box, who controls it with his chest and fires past the keeper. 1-0. It’s tight for the next four minutes until Ritchie Malcolm steps up and beats the keeper with his trademark side of the foot screamer. 2-0. Two minutes later St James get back into the game as we’re pinged for a third running offense and they score with their penalty. 2-1. There’s very few chances after this as we again try to play the game out again. Keeping possession and frustrating St James for the last five minutes.

Linlithgow Rose CFC 1-1 Dundee East CSC
Luncarty 1-1 Arbroath – Maroon
Oriam 2-0 Tayport – Reds
Raith Rovers 2-1 St James

Our third game sees us playing Oriam, who we haven’t played since we met them in the final of their trophy in 2021. For the third time in a row, we start well. Titch gets the ball wide on the right in the second minute and, from distance, beats the keeper. 1-0. In four minutes, Oriam let us know they’re still in the game with a well taken shot that hits the post. A minute later, a mistake by Ritchie in midfield lets the Oriam striker through, but he fails to beat Harry in our goal, and the score remains the same. A minute later, however, Ritchie makes amends with a great shot. The keeper saves but only parries it out, and there is John Wylie standing at the front of the box to slap it home. The rest of the game Raith resort to playing keep ball passing about smoothly but unable to break down Oriam’s defence any further.
One thing to note in this game. No running fouls for either side.

Oriam 0-2 Raith Rovers
Linlithgow Rose CFC 0-0 Tayport – Reds
Luncarty 1-1 St James
Hearts 1-0 Arbroath

We don’t get off to a quick start in our final game. A lot of effort goes in to marshalling Linlithgow’s striker as he looks to get beyond our backline. The team defends well until the tenth minute when, trying to reach a ball in front of the Linlithgow goal, Titch is pinged for running. It’s a third offence so it’s a penalty to Rose. They score and for the first time today we go behind. 0-1. However we’re not behind for long as two minutes later the Rose keeper passes the ball directly to Davie Ramsay and, not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he skelps it past him to level. 1-1. There’s not much more direct action and the game finishes 1-1.

Dundee East CSC 3-1 Tayport – Reds
Hearts 4-4 St James
Linlithgow Rose CFC 1-1 Raith Rovers
Luncarty 3-3 Oriam

Final two games:
Arbroath Maroon 1-2 Dundee East CSC
Hearts 4-1 Linlithgow Rose CFC

And so we end the day unbeaten (over both rounds) and move up the table from fourth to second. All in all a good day out.

WFS East League Premiership 2024 Round 1

A new year and a new season sees Raith Rovers over 50s back where we believe we belong in the top tier of walking football in Scotland. Today we see ourselves playing the two teams that were promoted with us plus two teams from last year’s Premiership. We start with fellow promotees Dundee East (previously Dundee United) followed by Tayport, the also promoted team Luncarty before finishing against last year’s third placed team Hearts.

Back row: Neil Galloway, Davie Ramsay, Harry Gilfillan, Ritchie Malcolm, Willie Carroll (coach), John Wylie
Front row: Haig Hutchison, Kev Henderson, Colin ‘Titch’ Hardie, Ian ‘Chillo’ McMillan

With new rules around contact and walking this year, teams and refs are going to take some time adapting and so this proved in the first game with a lot of offences(?) committed by both teams that would have gone unpunished last year. A very stop-start, non-flowing game with a lot of whistling started well for Raith with a penalty for three not walking offenses going against Dundee in the first three minutes. After a bit of discussion John Wylie stepped aside for ‘Chillo’ to take the ‘no-step’ kick and score. In five minutes Raith had the ball in the net again with ‘Titch’ taking a step past his defender and shooting high past the keeper. However the ref had a different idea and adjudged the two steps he had taken to be not walking and awarded a penalty to Dundee which was scored. A couple of further goal scoring opportunities for Titch came to nothing and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Arbroath 3-1 St James
Dundee East 1-1 Raith
Hearts 3-0 Oriam
Linlithgow Rose 1-1 Luncarty

Our second game of the day turned out to be a very tight affair with Tayport. Despite raining shots on the Tayport goal from all of our forward and midfield players and even Ritchie getting in on the act we were unable to find any way past the Tayport defense or keeper. And with Tayport having no luck either this game ended 0-0.
Tayport 0-0 Raith
St James 0-3 Linlithgow Rose
Dundee East 2-3 Luncarty
Arbroath 2-0 Oriam

The third round of matched see us having a break and a chance to watch our next opponents before we play.
St James 3-1 Oriam
Tayport 0-1 Luncarty
Arbroath 2-0 Linlithgow Rose
Dundee East 0-2 Hearts

Next up we have fellow promoted side Luncarty. in our two games last season we came away with a one goal win and a draw so it promises to be a tight game. The game starts well for Raith with sustained pressure leading to quick corners in the second minute after shots from Kev and Neil. And in the fourth minute the pressure pays off with Kev passing from midfield to Davie. Davie turns and shoots and beats the keeper for a 1-0 lead. There’s more sustained pressure from Raith without any end product until the twelfth minute when a through ball finds a Luncarty player in midfield. He miss-controls the ball but manages to get a cracking shot off which beats Harry low to his right and the game is tied. A strange incident in the 14th minute sees the ref award a corner to Luncarty after the ball comes off the post and back into Harry’s hands. Puzzled looks all around from both teams but the ref is insistent. Sportingly Luncarty take the corner and put the ball out of play. And with that the scoring is finished. 1-1
Tayport 0-2 Hearts
Raith 1-1 Luncarty
Oriam 2-2 Linlithgow Rose
St James 2-2 Dundee East

And so to our final game of the day against Hearts. We’ve played Hearts a couple of times before, most notably beating them in the Scottish Cup final in 2019, but this is our first league encounter. Hearts start lively forcing Harry to save low to his left in the first minute. In the second minute John Wylie finds Titch with a precision pass but the keeper does well to save. Raith continue to press and a pass from Davie finds Titch again but once more the keeper makes a save. In the fifth minute an intercepted pass in midfield is fed to Titch and this time he manages to finally beat the keeper and Raith go one up. There’s a lot of back and forth for the next five minutes with the Hearts frontman getting penalised more than once for backing in. In ten minutes Raith increase the lead with an intricate passing move from the right flank as Titch finds Davie who slides the ball to John who hits it past the keeper. There is no more scoring in the game and Raith finish the day unbeaten.
Raith 2-0 Hearts
Tayport 1-1 Arbroath

And so we end our first day back in the “big” league in the top half of the table and unbeaten. After the first game we adapted pretty well to the new interpretation and enforcement of the rules so it all bodes well for a good season.

WFS East League Championship 2023 Round 4

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.

Back Row: Haig Hutchison, Stephen MacCrimmon, Ritchie Malcolm, Charles Doherty
Front Row: Mikey Curtis, John Wylie, Ian (Chillo) McMillan, Keith Jenkin

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.

WFS East League Championship 2023 Round 3

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.

Back: Ritchie Malcolm, Haig Hutchison, Scott Jackson, Ian (Chillo) McMillan, Harry Gilfillan
Front: Stephen MacCrimmon, Kevin Henderson, Charles Doherty, Keith Jenkin

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…….”

WFS East League Championship 2023 Round 1

After league reconstruction we find ourselves in the East League Championship this year. The second tier of the competition with the hope that we can progress to the highest tier. This season there are three new teams in our league, Luncarty FC from the Perth area, Dundee FC and Highland United and a second team from Tayport, Tayport Yellows.

Today’s squad: Harry Gilfillan, Willie Carroll, Kevin Henderson, Scott McIntosh, Scott Jackson, Ian McMillan, Shaun O’Donnell, Haig Hutchison, Charles Doherty.

Before today’s games kicked off players from all teams across both leagues came together for a minute’s applause in memory of John Cunningham.

Our first game is against newcomers Dundee FC. The game started well with Ian McMillan hitting the bye line in the first minute and cutting the ball back to Scott Jackson who placed the ball behind the keeper for a one goal lead. However Dundee hit back in four minutes when Raith are penalised for a third running offence and Dundee convert the penalty. From here on it’s almost one way traffic as Raith push Dundee back but fail to convert until with time running out a throw out by the keeper is intercepted and, as the ref blows his whistle, Kev Henderson fires the ball into the net. The goal stands!
Dundee FC 1-2 Raith Rovers

Carnoustie Panmure 2-0 Saints in the Community
Dundee FC 1-2 Raith Rovers
Dundee Utc 2-1 Montrose
Highland Utd 0-1 Luncarty FC

Our second game has us playing against semi-newcomers Tayport Yellows. Raith get off to a flyer in this one with two goals in the second minute. First Ian McMillan finds Scott Jackson again for Scott to score and then some nice interplay between Scott Jackson and Scott McIntosh sees Scott McIntosh slot the ball past the keeper. In five minutes a third Raith running foul leads to a Tayport penalty and though Harry Gilfillan gets to the ball he can’t keep it out and Tayport pull one back. Raith continue to press and in twelve minutes the ref awards Raith a corner. The players don’t seem to notice and the Tayport keeper throws the ball into play but it’s intercepted and Raith score. No goal! After the confusion is sorted out Shaun O’Donnell takes the corner to Scott McIntosh who fires the ball past the keeper for a two goal lead. Raith continue to press for the next three minutes but it comes to nothing and the game ends.
Tayport Yellows 1-3 Raith Rovers

Tayport Yellows 1-3 Raith Rovers
Carnoustie Panmure 2-0 Montrose

We sit out the next three rounds.
Dundee FC 1-2 Luncarty FC
Dundee Utd 2-0 Highland Utd
Saints in the Community 2-2 Montrose
Tayport Yellows 0-2 Luncarty FC
Carnoustie Panmure 1-1 Highland Utd
Dundee FC 0-2 Dundee Utd

In our third game we play Perthshire newcomers Luncarty FC. With Luncarty already having won their previous three games this is an important game for today’s league placings. The game starts well for Raith when Luncarty are penalised for a slide tackle. As the offence is in the attacking zone the referee correctly awards Raith a penalty which Scott Jackson converts. The game is all Raith though we fail to convert and in twelve minutes the ref awards Luncarty a penalty for a third running offence which they convert. Raith continue to press but time runs out and the game ends in a draw.
Raith Rovers 1-1 Luncarty FC

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

In our final game of this round we play our old friends Saints in the Community. The game starts really well for Raith when Ian McMillan intercepts the ball in the first minute and passes to Scott Jackson who scores. In six minutes Haig Hutchison intercepts a ball in midfield and feeds Scott Jackson who again fires at the keeper who manages a half save but the ball trickles over the line. It’s almost all one way traffic for the rest of the game and further goals from Kevin Henderson and Scott Jackson (Yes Scott, you got a hat-trick) sees the game finish with a four-nil victory to Raith.
Raith Rovers 4-0 Saints in the Community.

Montrose 3-1 Tayport Yellows
Raith Rovers 4-0 Saints in the Community

All in all a good day at the office with no goals conceded from open play. Might need to work on the running fouls we are conceding. However we’re sitting second in the table after the first round of fixtures.

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