An afternoon that started so well for Raith Rovers turned into one to forget as Arbroath came back from a goal down to punish John McGlynn’s side.
A victory over the Lichties would have put Rovers joint top of the league – but now the side have fallen six points behind Dick Campbell’s men at the summit.
By half time, Raith were sitting pretty at 1-0 up. Their lead probably wasn’t deserved but the 500 fans in the stadium would have thought their side could and should have held on to their lead for a bit longer than they did.
Any hopes of that were quickly extinguished when the visitors equalised within a couple of minutes of the restart.
Raith struggled to muster any real chances to reclaim their lead and were denied a point when Nicky Low slotted home from the spot late on.
Courier Sport was at Starks Park and here are three talking points from the clash.
McGlynn dressing down?
After the game, the Raith gaffer would have given his men a talking to. It was a poor display on their own turf. McGlynn even said there were no excuses for the result.
But any chance of the players getting home as soon as possible to try and get over the performance were dashed as they were holed up in their dressing room for nearly AN HOUR for a post-match talking to.
The awaiting press and broadcasters were starting to wonder if they’d been forgotten about but at a little over 5.50pm McGlynn emerged from the tunnel to carry out his post-match media duties.
Managers often try to defend their side and put a positive spin on their reflections, but McGlynn was not for any positivity as he lambasted his side. And rightly so.
Not at the races
For a side that could have gone joint top, Raith showed little desire to grab that chance.
They failed to offer any real threat to Arbroath with just TWO shots on goal. One of those was the Reghan Tumilty tap in, the other was a Dario Zanatta shot which was blazed over the bar.
That was all the home side could offer. No wonder John McGlynn was incensed.
Aside from the lack of shots, there were missed placed passes in the middle of the park, balls given away in dangerous areas – not the attributes of a team looking for promotion.
Just six games ago, Raith were still on a 15-game unbeaten run. They now look like a completely different side who could struggle to see where their next league win could come from.
Raith still in title race?
On the showing against Arbroath, you’d have to say that Raith are not in for the title.
They’re now six points behind the leaders and others around them have games in hand.
John McGlynn said it was of their own doing as they make things difficult for themselves.
That said, they do have a strong enough squad to be in and about the top spot if they can turn it around quickly.
Jamie Gullan, who was quite quiet on Saturday, is a top signing. Ben Williamson on loan from Rangers looks another quality player. Sam Stanton is another experienced player at this level, while Ethan Ross looks an exciting talent.
Maybe these newer players need a bit of time to bed in to the side before they are firing on all cylinders.
But they’ll have to learn the lessons of the Arbroath defeat pretty swiftly if they want to take the Lichties’ place at the top.
