Queen's Park 1 - 2 Raith Rovers

Posted Saturday, December 21, 2024 by BBC.com

Aidan Connolly's controversial goal delivered Raith Rovers' first away win in the Scottish Championship this season as they narrowed the gap on hosts Queen's Park.

Holding a surprise 1-0 lead, the crafty Connolly scored what proved to be the match-winning goal as he robbed Dane Murray of the ball in the corner when the defender was adamant it had trickled out of play.

As the Spiders stood as statues, Connolly smashed Neill Collins' side, who had been under the cosh for the majority of the first half, into a shock two-goal lead.

The visitors had rarely frequented forward when they were awarded a penalty when midfielder Sean Welsh was penalised for handball.

Lewis Jamieson snuck his spot kick underneath Calum Ferrie, who had had a quiet game up until then, in stark comparison to Rovers goalkeeper, Kevin Dabrowski.

He made a number of good saves throughout the night, but could only watch on with bated breath as Zak Rudden inexplicably smashed a close-range effort off the face of the crossbar when the game was goalless.

Luck was on Rovers' side and inside the opening three minutes, they appeared fortunate not to concede an indirect free-kick as Shaun Byrne passed back to Dabrowski who cleared it with his hand.

Stunned at what he was witnessing, Callum Davidson made substitutions and substitute Ryan Duncan lashed in a goal seconds after coming on, though it proved to be only a consolation for Queen's Park who remain in fifth, four points ahead of Rovers.

What they said
Queen's Park manager Callum Davidson: "I asked for a better attitude than last week and I got it.

"I don't really like talking about the referees but I'm going to have to. I don't understand how there wasn't a pass back in the first half. For the penalty Sean Welsh is pushed.

"I think we played much better tonight. We didn't show ourselves in the true form against Falkirk. I think we deserved at least a point if not more."

Raith Rovers manager Neill Collins: "It's a fantastic feeling. It's not been our best performance of the season but the three points was the most important thing.

"In the first five minutes we had a good opportunity but from that moment on there were definitely concerns.

"But when we got the goal we started to show signs of winning the ball back, pressing high and I think from that point we looked really comfortable up until the last 10 minutes."