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.

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 Christmas Cup 2024 Highlights

Sunday 1st December saw the fifth running of Raith Rovers Walking Football’s Christmas Cup. On a mild day, compared to the last two years, ten teams took to the pitches to contest this popular end of year tournament. The teams were split into two groups of five with each team playing the others once and the top two in the group going forward into the semi finals.

Group A
Group A consisted of: Stenhousemuir, Tayport, Linlithgow Rose, Hibernian WF and Fairfield. Round one saw Linlithgow Rose beat Tayport 2-0 while Fairfield were beating Stenhousemuir by the same score. With Fairfield sitting out round two Linlithgow could take the initiative in the group. A 1-1 draw with Stenny saw them narrowly lead the group while Tayport added their name to the contenders with a 1-0 win over Hibs. A 3-2 win for Tayport over Stenny in round three saw them share the league lead with Fairfield with the later beating Hibs 2-1. The final round before the break saw Fairfield beat Tayport 1-0 and Rose beat Hibs 2-1 to book their places in the semi. After the break Fairfield beat Rose 2-0 to take the league while Hibs beat Stenny 2-1 to take fourth place.

Group B
In Group B we had: Hearts, Arbroath, Raith Rovers, Crieff and Falkirk. Round one started with Raith beating Arbroath 1-0 and Falkirk beating Hearts 2-0. In round two Hearts beat Raith 3-2 while Arbroath beat Crieff 2-1 to leave four teams sitting on 3 points at the top of the group. Into round three and, with Raith sitting this one out, Hearts take the initiative to lead the group beating Arbroath 2-0 while Crieff and Falkirk fought out a 1-1 draw. In round four Raith beat Crieff 4-3 in the highest scoring game of the day while Arbroath made things interesting beating Falkirk 3-1. Into the last round of matches and four teams could make it into the top two positions depending on how the results worked out. However with both Hearts and Raith winning by 2-1 score lines against Crieff and Falkirk respectively they topped the group on nine points each. With both teams also having a goal difference of +2 Raith were declared group winners on account of having scored more goals.

And so to the Semi Finals. Fairfield V Hearts and Raith V Linlithgow. Both were tight games with Hearts edging Fairfield out 2-1 and Raith beating Linlithgow 2-0.
Would the final see Raith retain the cup or Hearts put their name on the trophy for the first time? The game was as tight as the group game between the sides with only one goal scored in the 15 minutes and so a new name was added to the trophy and congratulations to Hearts!

Reflections:
After a little bit of rain during the introductions the weather turned out perfect for football. All teams played in the right spirit we’ve come to expect in this tournament which was great to see once more. This year’s competition was the most competitive we’ve had with no team losing a game by more than 2 goals and the results in all games never being certain. For the above we have to thank all of the teams for their attitude. And also the referee crew, who once again did a great job, despite the often helpful(?) advice from players and officials. And finally thanks to Raith’s Callum Hannah for coming along and presenting the trophy.