“In terms of our mental side, we never give up,” beamed Raith Rovers manager Ian Murray after watching his side dig out another stunning victory on Saturday with just seconds to spare.
Jamie Gullan’s 94th-minute penalty earned the Stark’s Park side a 2-1 win against Inverness Caley Thistle and kept up a welcome trend of dramatic endings this season.
The success in the Highlands takes Rovers’ tally to 14 points earned from goals scored in the last five minutes of matches.
We look at the late shows that have helped keep the Kirkcaldy club on the coat-tails of Dundee United at the top of the Championship.
1) Partick Thistle 2-2 Raith Rovers, August 5
On the opening day of the season, Raith came to life in attack in the last 10 minutes to earn a vital point.
Kieran Mitchell, since farmed out to East Fife, fired in the equaliser in the 89th minute after Dylan Easton had pulled the first goal back six minutes earlier.
Another player now on loan elsewhere, Ethan Ross, sprang from the bench to assist both goals to help Rovers make a positive start to the campaign.
2) Raith Rovers 3-2 Queen’s Park, September 2
Callum Smith got Raith off to the perfect start with an eighth-minute opener before a further boost when visiting defender Will Tizzard was sent-off after just 32 minutes.
The game was then turned on its head as goals from Jack Turner and Dom Thomas left Rovers trailing with just 17 minutes remaining.
However, Lewis Vaughan came good with an 86th-minute leveller before adding a sensational winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
3) Raith Rovers 1-0 Inverness CT, September 16
In a match that proved to be Billy Dodds’ last game in charge of Inverness, Raith overcame a sticky performance to snatch all three points in the 87th minute.
Gullan had only been on the pitch for 60 seconds, initially sent on as a late replacement in time to take a wayward free-kick, when he latched onto a Ross Millen cross in a crowded box.
It earned Rovers a first win against Caley Thistle over 90 minutes in 23 years.
4) Raith Rovers 1-0 Dunfermline, October 28
The Fife derby was heading for an honourable draw when Raith won it with another injury-time strike.
Sam Stanton brilliantly drilled in the winner in the 93rd minute – his second successive derby clincher – to spark wild celebrations in the home stands and despair in the away end.
The emotions of the dramatic finale then boiled over after the full-time whistle as Murray and Dunfermline number two Dave Mackay squared up to each other before being dragged apart.
5) Queen’s Park 2-3 Raith Rovers, November 11
Another incredible climax from Raith, this time in the surroundings of a sparsely-populated Hampden.
A goal to the good thanks to Lewis Vaughan, Euan Murray’s red card looked to have changed the game in Queen’s Park favour after Jack Turner and Ruari Paton gave the home side a 2-1 lead with 16 minutes remaining.
But redoubtable Raith pulled level again in the 89th minute with a Jack Hamilton equaliser before Ross Millen displayed incredible nerve to clip in a panenka penalty for all three points in the 92nd minute.
6) Inverness CT 1-2 Raith Rovers, December 2
Trailing with just five minutes to go in the Highlands, Raith again left it very late to earn a first success away from home against Inverness in 19 games.
Lewis Vaughan’s goal in the 86th minute sparked the revival and Gullan was the match-winner for a second time against Caley Thistle to turn the prospect of a costly defeat into a crucial win.
Rovers would be mid-table in the Championship without their comebacks but instead are now just one point shy of leaders Dundee United – with the chance to go above them against Partick Thistle on Friday night.
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