Raith Rovers’ Performance Analysis: Ups and Downs

Raith Rovers travelled to Dundee on the 19th April for the second group of fixtures in this year’s league. Sitting second in the league 2pts from the top and 3pts ahead of third, with matches against both teams, the aim was to try and wrestle top spot from Forfar or, failing that, consolidate our current position.

Game one was against St James. Raith started well with shots from Ally and Ryan in the first 3 minutes. In the 4th minute Darren lays the ball off to Ryan who shoots and beats the keeper. 1-0 In the 6th minute John wins the ball on the left touchline. From n impossible angle, and with the keeper rising, his attempted lob rolls just past. In the 9th minute St James tie the game with shot from the left. 1-1 It’s almost a first game disaster as St James have the ball in the net in the 13th minute however the ref, rightly, blows for a penalty box infringement by the shooter. Despite further pressing by both teams there’s no more scoring and the game ends 1-1.

Linlithgow Rose 3-3 Forfar Athletic
Luncarty FC 1-1 Dundee East CSC
Oriam 1-2 Arbroath – Maroon
Raith Rovers 1-1 St James WF

Game two against Oriam starts with a bang when Ryan once again receives a pass from Darren and shoots and scores in the first minute. 1-0 Four minutes later it’s Ally feeding Ryan as he scores with a long shot from midfield. 2-0 In the 7th minute Davie makes contact with an Oriam player in the penalty area and it’s a penalty to Oriam. Oriam looked to have scored as Moog dives to his left but he throws out a foot and knocks the ball away. The hat trick comes for Ryan in the 10th minute. Good link up play sees the ball arrive at John’s feet. He holds it up nicely and places it in Ryan’s path for a keeper beating shot. 3-0 The game is all but wrapped up but Raith kept pressing with John almost scoring in the 12th minute with a turn and shot.

Hibernian CF 2-2 Dundee East CSC
Linlithgow Rose 3-0 Arbroath – Maroon
Luncarty FC 0-0 St James WF
Oriam 0-3 Raith Rovers

And on next to Linlithgow Rose, for some reason a bit of a bogey team for us. The game started well with an early pass from Ryan to Darren in a good position but the ball got caught under his feet and the chance was gone. In 5 minutes Linlithgow had the ball in the net but it was disallowed for the ball being in the keeper’s box when it was struck. However a minute later a through ball puts a Linlithgow player one-on-one with Moog in goals and he nets for a lead. 0-1 Three minutes later it’s a penalty to Linlithgow as John appears in the keeper’s box. He was clearly pushed but somehow the ref misses this and awards the penalty. Moog guesses right and gets a hand down to push the ball onto the post and justice is served. Raith push for the equaliser but despite the pressure and a shot from John that hit’s the post it’s all to no avail.

Forfar Athletic 2-0 Arbroath – Maroon
Hibernian CF 2-3 St James WF
Luncarty 3-1 Oriam
Linlithgow Rose CFC 1-0 Raith Rovers

And so to league leaders Forfar. A disastrous start sees us 3-0 down in the first three minutes with two goals that looked to be predicated with runs and a penalty for alleged contact in the penalty area. Three minutes later Forfar score again to put us 4-0 down and effectively out of the game. The team then seems to wake up and it’s almost one way traffic with Forfar no longer creating anything but holding onto the ball and managing the game when they can. Shots from John, Kev and Darren rain on the Forfar goal but either hit the woodwork or are well saved by the Forfar keeper. We get a breakthrough in 10 minutes when Darren beats the keeper. 4-1 Another opportunity goes begging in the 14th minute when a Forfar defender wanders into the box. With Ally off the pitch Darren steps up to take the penalty but only manages to hit the post to round off what has been a nightmare of a game. 4-1

Dundee East CSC 2-4 St James WF
Forfar Athletic 4-1 Raith Rovers
Hibernian CF 2-2 Oriam
Linlithgow Rose 3-1 Luncarty FC

Arbroath – Maroon 0-5 Dundee East CSC
Forfar Athletic 5-1 Hibernian CF

Reflections: We end the day one place lower than we started. It was always going to be a harder round than the first with us playing two of the top four teams at the start of the day. Team selection and the timing of changes might have been our downfall but it’s something we’ll learn for and will come back stronger for the second half of the season. Third place at the half way point is a far better position than last year so we now have a good platform to push on from.

Raith Rovers’ Journey in the Glasgow Trophy: A Game-by-Game Review

Raith Rovers Walking Football travelled through to Glasgow on 11th April to take part with 23 other teams in the Glasgow Trophy. Our group mostly contained teams we had played before Ayr United, Carrick WF, Collingham, Dunfermline Athletic and, of course, St Anthony’s.

Back row: Davey Ramsay, Ryan Ramsay, Ally Grant, Steve Williamson, Willie Carroll.
Front row: Charles Doherty, John Wylie, Graham Allen, Mikey Curtis

We were straight in with game 1 against Collingham, from Nottinghamshire, who we played last year winning a tight contest 1-0. The game started with both teams trying out the other’s defense. The first real action came in the third minute with a John Wylie turn and shot that was well saved. However a minute later a quick free kick from Ryan Ramsay in the midfield found John again and this time his turn and shot found the back of the net. 1-0 Two minutes later and contact in the tackle in the Collingham penalty area gave us a penalty. Ally Grant stepped up to put the ball in the net off the keeper’s right hand post. 2-0 In the 9th minute Raith were penalised for a third running foul which Collingham scored from the spot. 2-1 raith replied sharply with shots from John and Mikey in the following minutes as they held out for a rare first game victory.

Games 2 and 3 saw Dunfermline Athletic fall to a 0-5 defeat to Carrick WF and Ayr Utd fall 0-2 to St Anthony’s.

Raith started game 4 against Carrick WF brightly with three shots from John in the first three minutes. However despite all the pressure we were hit with a sucker punch when, totally against the run of play, a Carrick shot from distance beats Stevie in the Rovers’ goal. 0-1 In the 6th minute Mikey intercepts a pass out from the Carrick keeper but his shot rebounds off the bar. For the next 5 minutes it’s constant Raith pressure with shots coming from Mikey, John and Ryan. All being held by the keeper or turned away for a corner. In the 14th minute Graham steps onto a ball and, from the keepers right curls a ball into the bottom right hand corner of the goal. It’s looking a goal all the way until the keeper touches it round the post. However an almost certain defeat is avoided when, with the last kick of the game, Mikey finally beats the keeper. 1-1

We rest again as Ayr Utd beat Collingham 1-0 and St Anthony’s beat Dunfermline 2-0.

Game 7 was against Ayr Utd. A tight game of attrition looked to be breached when the referee penalised Ayr for a DOGSO offense in the 7th minute. The normally consistent Ally Grant stepped up to put Raith into the lead and promptly shot straight at the keeper. The game remained scoreless. Redemption came in the 10th minute with a third running offense by Ayr. Redemption completed as he knocks it past the keeper for a 1-0 lead. That’s the end of the scoring as both teams continue to cancel each other out.

Games 8 and 9 finish the morning session with St Anthony’s beating Carrick 1-0 and Dunfermline losing to Collingham 0-3.

And so onto game 10 against St Anthony’s. We got off to a quick start with a shot from John in the first minute. Two minutes later John’s in the middle of the action again as he’s fouled in the penalty area and the ref awards a penalty. Ally Grant steps up again to give Raith a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later parity is restored as a Saints player turns at the edge of the box and beats Stevie in the Raith goal. A minute later Saints take the lead with what looked like a run onto the ball but the ref gives the goal. A minute later there’s more controversy when a Saints player backs in to a defender and the ref somehow penalises the defender with a penalty which Saints convert. The drama isn’t over as within a minute Raith are penalised for three running offenses and it’s another penalty to St Anthony’s. This time Stevie guesses right and makes the save. In the 11th minute Mikey has the ball in the back of the net but the ref pulls play back for a running foul by St Anthony’s. There’s no more action of note and St Anthony’s run out winners 1-3.

Game 11 saw Dunfermline Athletic lose 1-2 to Ayr Utd while in game 12 Carrick beat Collingham 2-1 with a late goal that, to almost everyone on the side-line, looked to have come back off the post. But the ref is the ultimate arbiter and he chose to give the goal. The win for Carrick means that Raith go into their last game on the same points as Carrick but with a 5 goal poorer goal difference.

Game 13 and our final game of the group stages and we need to beat Dunfermline Athletic. Raith switched formation to try and get more players forward to score as many goals as possible. It doesn’t work as a congested Dunfermline half of the pitch stifled the shooting. However a trip on Mikey Curtis in the fourth minute gives a penalty to Raith. Ally steps up again and this time hits the post for his second penalty miss of the day. Despite the congestion in the Dunfermline half Raith did get some shots away which were saved by either the keeper or the woodwork. The game looks to be playing out to a nil nil draw to end Raith’s chances and give Dunfermline their first point of the day when John manages to shoot past the keeper from the edge of the box in the 14th minute. 1-0 Before the referee blows his whistle to end the game he blows it for a third running offense by Dunfermline. Ally steps up again but this time he beats the keeper and Raith win the game 2-0.

Game 14 saw St Anthony’s confirm their unbeaten group stage with a 1-0 win over Collingham while Carrick secured second spot on goal difference with a 4-0 win over Ayr Utd.

Reflections: A reasonable day out results wise. More goals and a refereeing decision in a game we weren’t involved in and it might have been different. But for now we look forward to next week when we’re back to league duty and face the team who eventually won this tournament, Forfar Athletic. Congratulations to Forfar and we’ll see you next weekend.

Raith Rovers’ Competitive Start in 2026 Walking Football League

The 2026 Walking Football Scotland East Region league started on 1st February. Last year we ended the first day with just one point from the four games. This year, against three of the same teams and one of the league’s newly promoted teams, we were hoping for slightly more. The games would be against Arbroath, Hibernian, Luncarty and Dundee East.

Game 1 today was, as last year, against Arbroath – Maroon. Raith started on the front foot with shots from John and Mikey in the first few minutes. Play was then stopped for a couple of minutes while the ref reflated the ball. In 7 minutes the ref adjudged a third running foul against Raith and awarded Arbroath a penalty, which they scored (1-0). Raith continued to press, desperate to tie the game up, with shots coming from Ryan and Darren failing to beat the Arbroath keeper. In 11 minutes the pressure pays off when Arbroath commit their third running foul and Raith have the penalty. Darren steps up and calmly slots past the keeper for his first goal in Rover’s colours (1-1). A minute later however Arbroath restore their lead (2-1). It’s a frantic end to the game though as Raith press some more and pressure Arbroath into a mistake as an Arbroath player infringes the keeper’s area. Penalty Raith! Darren again steps up but this time the keeper saves. However Darren is quick on the rebound and scores at the second attempt (2-2). With time running out Arbroath are again penalised for a third run and it’s another Raith penalty. With regular penalty taker Ally Grant on the pitch penalty taking switches to him and he slots it past the keeper to finish the scoring (2-3).

Arbroath – Maroon 2-3 Raith Rovers
Dundee East CSC 1-1 Oriam
Forfar Athletic 1-0 Luncarty
Hibernian CF 2-3 Linlithgow Rose

And so on to Game 2 against newly promoted Hibernian. A tight game with both teams playing well but cancelling each other out in midfield and no team really coming out on top. Until in 7 minutes Mikey Curtis unleashes a shot from about 15 metres out which flies straight into the keeper’s top right hand corner. Unstoppable!! (1-0) Both teams continue to cancel each other out and the game finishes without much incident and only 1 running foul committed (by Hibs BTW).

St James WF 2-0 Oriam
Arbroath -Maroon 1-2 Luncarty
Dundee East CSC 2-0 Linlithgow Rose
Raith Rovers 1-0 Hibernian CF

Game 3 against Luncarty started well when a perfect pass from Ryan to Mikey left Mikey with only the keeper to beat and he did(1-0). Luncarty press for an equaliser but some heroic defending and goalkeeping thwart them. Midway through the match a Luncarty player challenges Mikey from behind and knocks him 6 feet forward onto his face. The ref has a word. Luncarty finally get the ball in the net in the 14th minute but the player is penalised for running onto the ball.

Raith Rovers 1-0 Luncarty
St James WF 2-2 Linlithgow Rose
Arbroath – Maroon 0-2 Hibernian CF
Dundee East CSC 0-1 Forfar Athletic

And finally to Game 4. Last year our solitary point from the opening day came against Dundee East. We were hoping for a better result today. The game opened well with a shot from Ally in the first minute. However Dundee East poured on the pressure and only some fine saves from Scott in goals kept the game level. Until the 6th minute when a Dundee breakaway led to a goal (0-1). Raith seemed to be rocked by this and two minutes later Dundee doubled their lead. A speculative shot from the edge of the keepers area was initially saved by Scott however it squirmed up over his head and despite grabbing for it as he fell backwards the ball crossed the line (0-2). With nothing to lose Raith pressed for a foothold back into the game. The pressure paid off as a Dundee player entered the keeper’s area and the ref awarded a penalty. Ally Grant stepped up and scored (1-2). Dundee hit back and only multiple saves by Scott kept the score as it was as Raith appeared to be spluttering. In an effort to try and see out the game Dundee tried to keep the ball in the Raith corner however Davey stepped round and managed to play the ball out. Ally picked up the ball and pressed forward. With options to play in either Mikey or John he decided to grab the glory himself to shoot past the despairing right hand of the keeper to tie the game(2-2).

Oriam 1-2 Linlithgow Rose
St James WF 1-3 Forfar Athletic
Luncarty 1-2 Hibernian CSC
Raith Rovers 2-2 Dundee East

The final two games of the weekend were:
Oriam 1-5 Forfar Athletic
St James WF 1-1 Arbroath – Maroon

Reflections: A big improvement on last year. Disappointing to only draw in the last game but if we had been offered 10 pts at the start of the day we would happily have taken that. We can build on this and move onto the Glasgow Trophy in April closely followed by the next round of league fixtures.

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.

Raith Rovers’ Tough Journey in Scottish Cup

Raith Rovers made the trip through to Glasgow on Saturday more in hope than expectation with a squad depleted through injury and unavailability. The designated “group of death” was always going to be a hard task to exit but this year would be even harder. Never the less the boys in the squad were determined to put on a good show, so they left Kirkcaldy in high spirits.

Game 1 saw Castlemilk Community, late replacements for Fife Wanderers, take on group co-favourites Pollok United. Despite Castlemilk putting up a good fight Pollok’s superior experience saw them win 2-3.

We started our campaign in game 2 against competition newcomers Rangers FFiT. We started the game slowly, weighing up the opposition, until the fifth minute when John Wylie received the ball and turned and shot past the Ranger’s keeper for a 1-0 lead. Three minutes later, a quick free kick finds John free again, and once more, he beats the keeper for 2-0. A minute later, John turns provider with a pass to Ally, who slots home for our third. The game is mostly Raith attacking and shooting high and wide until the 13th minute when Rangers commit their third running foul and we get a penalty. John sets up to claim his hat trick and a 4-0 lead. Mere seconds later, it’s a penalty to Rangers as a third running offence, off the ball, gives Rangers a penalty. Rangers score, and the game ends 4-1.

Game 3 has St Ants against West End Bar, Airdrie, Tartan Army. From here on in known as WEBATA. A tough game for the guys in green as they fight hard to grab a 2-2 draw. Game 4 is another close one as Rangers FFiT edge out Castlemilk Community 2-1. Game 5 sees the big two face off with St Ants taking a close 2-1 victory over rivals Pollok United.

We’re back on for game 6 against WEBATA. It’s a tight game with Keith in the Raith goal bringing off some good saves and some wayward shooting at the other end. Yet, on 7 minutes, an ambitious shot from just inside the halfway line by John beats the keeper for a 1-0 lead. We keep it tight, limiting WEBATA’s attempts on goal. But in 11 minutes, we’re penalised for a third running offence, and despite Keith getting a hand to the ball, WEBATA score and tie the game. We pushed for a winner to no avail and finished the game all square.

Next up St Ants continue their poor start with a 1-1 draw with Castlemilk Community. followed by WEBATA beating Rangers FFiT 4-0.

The last game before the break pitches us against Pollok United. The game starts badly as we lose a quick goal in the first minute. But the heads don’t go down, and we fight back with some intense pressure but without any end result. Until the 9th minute when Ally plays a one-two with John at the left corner of the box and beats the keeper with a great shot 1-1. The parity is short lived though as a fantastic shot from distance beats Keith to let Pollok retake the lead. We keep pressing, but some good game management by Pollok sees the game out for a 2-1 defeat.

With each team having two games left the league table is very tight. Pollok lead on 6 points with WEBATA and St Ants behind them on 5, ourselves on 4, Rangers FFiT on 3 and Castlemilk Community on 1.

The first game after the break sees WEBATA temporarily lead the group with a 1-0 win over Castlemilk Community.

In game 11 we face St Ants who beat us 7 weeks ago in the Glasgow Trophy. This time we don’t lose a quick goal and match them for the first 6 minutes. We then lose two goals in two minutes and three minutes later John Wylie receives our first recorded booking in any competition for a little talking back to the ref. To be fair to John, and the ref, it probably wasn’t warranted for this match more a build up over the earlier matches. St Ants, though, do what they do well and see the match out though Del in the St Ants net does pull off a great save from a shot to his top left hand corner.

Pollok overcome Rangers FFiT in the next game 4-2 but don’t have it all their own way with Rangers leading at one point and the game being tied until late on.

We’re next up for our last game against Castlemilk Community. We have, at this point, no chance of progressing and to make things worse, the skies open. It’s a typical end of group game where neither team can progress and a long day and injuries take their toll. Castlemilk go 1 up after 5 minutes, 2 up after 7 and 3 up after 9. We finally get a foothold in the game when the ref awards a penalty for 3 runs, which John dispatches. A minute later, John reduces the deficit to one with a well taken goal. Thirty seconds further on, and we’re now pinged for a third running offence. The Castlemilk player beats Keith, but he had made a move to dummy the kick, so the “goal” was ruled out. A minute later, however, Castlemilk score to win the game 4-2.

With 2 games still to be played in the group, 3 teams can still advance. Pollok hold the upper hand on 9 points, knowing a draw will see them through, and a win will see them through as group winners. A win for WEBATA sees them through while a draw would need Rangers FFiT needing to beat or draw with St. Ants. St. Ants, on the other hand, know that a win sees them through, and a draw will be good enough if Pollok beat WEBATA. Seemples!

As it turned out Pollok beat WEBATA 2-1 and St Ants beat Rangers FFiT 5-0 so Pollock won the group and St Ants went through as runners up.

And a big shout out to all of the East Region League teams who took part and all played well. Most prominently Forfar WF who topped their group and lost to St Ants in the quarters, Dundee East (topped their group) and Luncarty (second in their group) who played out their own quarter, with Dundee East falling to Pollok in the semi.

The final? You’ve guessed it St. Ants V Pollok with St. Ants winning again for the second time on the day. Congratulations.

John Cunningham Memorial Festival 2025

The sun shone on Starks Park, Kirkcaldy as 41 walking footballers took to the pitches to celebrate walking football on Sunday. This was the third annual celebration of walking football and a teammate who truly loved the game.

2025 JC Festival Players — Festival players with Fiona and Hannah Cunningham

Six randomly chosen teams played five games with no scores being kept with no league table or trophy to win. Just playing football, making friends, having fun and topping up the suntan. And, when the commemorative medals had been handed out, an epic two halved eight on eight game where both keepers excelled (the ones in goals not the two pretend outfield players). The game was “won” by a single goal but no one really cared except Dave in the “defeated” team’s goals. 😂

Raith Rovers Walking Football would like to thank everyone for turning up and contributing to a great, fun day out. From the players to the refs and the ball boy (George) and Fiona and Hannah thank you all. As a result of all your efforts we will be donating £300 to CHAS (https://www.chas.org.uk/) and £300 to Epilepsy Scotland(https://www.epilepsyscotland.org.uk/).

David Milne
Well done Charles & Willie for organising everything as a mark of respect for John.
Brilliant day of walking football & great to see old & new faces. ⚽️🥅 ❤️

Gordon Farquharson
Well done to Charles Doherty and Willie Carroll for putting in a very enjoyable day of Walking Football. These festivals are always really enjoyable and played in a great spirit. Everyone gets on and has a laugh and joke. Then plenty banter between games.
This could and maybe SHOULD be the future of WF.

Harry Gilfillan
First class organising again lads you did John and his Family proud 😊

Neil Galloway
A great way to spend the afternoon. Thanks to everyone who gave up their afternoon to make sure it was a great event. And thanks to whoever booked the weather 🙂

Raymond Henderson
Great day again,in the memory of John Cunningham.
Well done the guys who put it together ,the refs on the day and all participants from near and far,great bunch of lads👍

David Fawcett
Great day out played in great spirit and despite the 5th game being a bit of a step too far for my old knackered knees.

John Beveridge
A great afternoon of WF in memory of a very nice bloke. Really good games played in great spirit. Organisation first class. Well done to everyone who played in the heat.

Graham Robertson
great banter, good fitba thnx guys👍😁⚽️Allan HarrisonI enjoyed the day and great camaraderie 👍

Some pics from the day courtesy of Mike Burnett of Arbroath Walking Football.

Raith Walking Football Matches and Highlights from Glasgow

On the 13th April the squad traveled to Glasgow. This was the first of three planned trips for the year. This trip was to compete for the Glasgow Life Trophy. Our group stage opponents were: perennial knockout stagers Pollok United, Collingham all the way from Lincolnshire, fellow East Region team Linlithgow Rose, South Lanarkshire’s Glenbuck and Douglas Valley and finally former Scottish Cup winners Gretna 2008.

Our first game is the third on the schedule so we have a chance to watch the first two games and assess how the games are going to be reffed for our group stages. The first two games both end up as draws. Glenbuck and Douglas Valley and Gretna 2008 share a 1-1 draw. Collingham and Linlithgow Rose also end their match in a draw, with both teams failing to beat the other’s keeper.
Glenbuck and Douglas Valley 1-1 Gretna 2008
Collingham 0-0 Linlithgow Rose

And then our first game. Games against Pollok (either of their teams) are always tight and this one proved to be no different. We started well with a second minute goal from John Wylie. A pass to his feet and the defender allowed him time to turn and beat the keeper. Seconds after the goal Harry Gilfillan in the Raith net brings off a spectacular save to keep our lead. The game is hectic and goes back and forth. This continues until the 7th minute. Pollok get lucky when a deflected Tommy Sheridan shot beats Harry to tie the game. Within a minute Pollok are penalised for a third running offense and Raith are awarded a penalty. Yet the penalty is saved and the game remains tied. But not for long as an Ally Grant shot is deflected past the Pollok keeper to make it 2-1. The direction of the game changes again within a minute as Raith are now penalised for three running offenses. This attempt is unfortunately good and Pollok tie the game up. 2-2. In 12 minutes, Harry makes a brilliant save from a long-range shot in the Raith goal. Nonetheless, 2 minutes later, he is beaten from wide right, and Pollok take the lead. 2-3. With a minute left Raith press for an equaliser but Pollok hold on to collect a 2-3 win.

Another two game break sees Linlithgow Rose beat Glenbuck and Douglas Valley and Pollok beat Gretna, both by a single goal.
Glenbuck and Douglas Valley 1-2 Linlithgow Rose
Pollok United 1-0 Gretna 2008

Our second game pairs us with Lincolnshire side Collingham. The game started brightly for Raith with a saved Ritchie shot from the left in the second minute. two minutes later there is contact in the Collingham penalty area and Raith are awarded a penalty. Ally Grant steps up. And misses! Collingham respond by going straight up the pitch and hitting the post with a great shot. Goalkeepers are on top for the next five minutes with both pulling off some great saves. In the 10th minute, John has a shot well saved. Within seconds, he beats the keeper with a great shot into the top left corner of the goal. Looking to increase their lead, Raith continue to press. They are unlucky not to score, hitting the bar twice in the closing minutes.
Raith 1-0 Collingham

The next game saw Pollok continue unbeaten with a win over Glenbuck and Douglas Valley.
Glenbuck and Douglas Valley 0-2 Pollok

Our last game before the break was against Linlithgow Rose. The team that beat us on the last day of last year’s East League before getting themselves relegated. Raith have the ball in the net in 4 minutes. But, the ref makes a harsh call. He adjudges Kev to have run as he struck the ball. Three minutes later the ball rolls along the edge of the Raith box and a Linlithgow player slides it past Harry. It gets worse in three minutes when Raith are penalised for three running fouls and Linlithgow score to take a 2-0 lead. It’s looking very like a rerun of the last game of the season with only 6 minutes left. Both teams continue to press with harry keeping Raith in the game with some great work. The breakthrough comes in the 14th minute when Kev finally manages to beat the Linlithgow keeper. But with little time left Linlithgow run out winners. 2-1
Raith 1-2 Linlithgow Rose

Before the mid session break Gretna beat Collingham in a close game.
Collingham 1-2 Gretna 2008

We come back after the break. We know that to have any chance of progressing to the quarter finals, we need to win both of our remaining games. The boys are fired up. They start well. John beats the keeper after some patient build up. It starts at the back with Harry. Continuous pressure pays off in the seventh minute. Ally receives the ball on the edge of the box and beats the keeper. A minute later, Ally passes to John, who is wide on the right. John’s shot beats the keeper to give us a three-goal lead. It’s all action again in this middle period as Glenbuck & Douglas Valley crash a shot off the bar. And with the Raith defence asleep net the rebound. Our three-goal lead is back in an instant. Another passing move from the back results in Kev beating the keeper. Glenbuck & Douglas Valley push in the later stages but Raith hold out. Until a defensive mix up in the 13th minute allows Glenbuck & Douglas Valley a second goal. But that’s all they get and Raith hold on to win.

Glenbuck & Douglas Valley 2-4 Raith

We’ve completed the first part of our task. We can now only sit and watch the results of the next three games. After that, we will try to win the second of our afternoon matches.
Collingham 1-3 Pollok United
Gretna 2008 2-1 Linlithgow Rose
Glenbuck & Douglas Valley 0-0 Collingham

Going into our last game against Gretna 2008 we know we have to win to have a chance of progressing. Gretna and Linlithgow both sit on 7 points while we’re on 6.
Both teams need to win, so it’s a tight game. Brilliant saves from Harry and poor shooting from the boys keep the score 0-0. But with time running out John Wylie gets off a shot through some players and beats the un-sighted keeper. 1-0. Finally, the Raith guys make a sensible decision. They play possession football for the remaining minute and run down the clock.
Raith 1-0 Gretna 2008

We’ve done what we can. Now, we need Pollok to continue unbeaten. They must at least beat or draw with Linlithgow for us to go through.
And Pollok come through for us and beat Linlithgow and we progress to the quarter finals.

And so to the quarter final where our opponents were Newcastle United. They had a tough start to their group. Adjusting to different rules was challenging. Still, they came through strong in the end to top it.
Newcastle started strongly bringing out a great save from Harry in the first minute. Two minutes later Raith tested the Newcastle keeper when Davie laid off the ball for a Haig shot. In the 6th minute Harry was called into action again parrying a shot onto the post and away. A minute later and John was testing the Newcastle keeper again. In minute 9, Harry was again called into action. He made a brilliant save but it was pointless as the Newcastle player was running. From the free kick Raith pressed upfield and a foul on Tam gave another free kick. Some quick thinking from Tam found John with a pass and he beat the keeper for a 1-0 lead. Raith pushed to increase their lead with shots from John and Kev but had to be aware of Newcastle’s attack. Indeed though Raith were pressing Newcastle brought out a good few saves from Harry. However in the 13th minute a glorious team move started with Harry finding Davie. He sent a cross pitch pass to Tam who found Kev who beat the keeper to score 2-0. Raith tried to see the game out though Newcastle weren’t up for that and still managed to test Harry. But to no avail.
Newcastle United 0-2 Raith

Our semi final opponents were St Anthony’s who we’ve played a few times in cup competitions. The game started with a bang with a shot from John in the first minute going wide. From the throw out, the keeper found St Ant’s striker. He scuffed his shot, but it somehow found its way under Harry. 0-1 Raith hit back from the kick off with a shot from Ally going for a corner. Raith continue to press with shots from Davie and John but, in 6 minutes St Ant’s score. A ball from their right wing finds a player in the middle, unmarked, and he beats Harry. 0-2 We are up against it now. Another long ball finds the St Ant’s striker. This time, he hits his shot well, and Harry saves. In the 12th minute we’re pinged for three running fouls and it’s a penalty to St Ant’s. Harry gets a hand to the ball but doesn’t stop it. 0-3 With a three nil lead St Ant’s run the game down keeping possession and frustrating the Raith boys.
St Anthony’s 3-0 Raith

The final saw St Ant’s beat Pollok in the usual tight game to claim the trophy.

Conclusions: After our start in the group, we were pleased to get to the quarters. We were even more pleased to make it to the semi. It was a good day out and a great experience which we’ll learn from and come back stronger. Special mention goes to Harry Gilfillan in goals. He kept us in contention in most of the games with his saves, while also putting us in some great attacking positions with his distribution.

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.