Ian Murray insists Raith Rovers deserved more after crashing to a cruel Scottish Cup defeat to Livingston.
The Stark’s Park men surged into an early lead after Jack Hamilton’s fifth-minute opener.
They even survived a missed penalty from Andrew Shinnie just short of the midway point in the first-half.
But Jamie Brandon hauled Livi back level before the break and substitute Dan MacKay won it for the Premiership strugglers eight minutes from time.
Many looked at the tie as a potential shock, but Rovers were left disappointed as they exited the tournament in agonising fashion.
Murray said: “We created a lot of chances and didn’t take them – some of the misses were unfortunate, some of them were poor.
“That’s the bottom line in cup competitions, in particular. You’ve got to take your chances to get through.
“We came out the traps brilliantly. We’ve started most games this season really, really well.
“We could have been ahead before we scored.
‘We were better’
“It was a good goal. It was something we had looked at during the week – getting in behind them – and it was a good finish from Jack.
“After that, the first-half was pretty even, I felt.
“But in the second-half I felt we were better, and we deserved to win the game.
“The boys are disappointed they’re not in the next round of the cup, but overall our standard of play was really good.
“That’s probably the best we’ve played in the last three or four weeks.”
Despite all their efforts, it all added up to three straight defeats for Raith.
But, given the higher level of opposition, Murray believes his side’s display should inspire his players in their Championship title battle with Dundee United.
Having drawn with Kilmarnock and lost to Hibernian so far this season, he added: “I think days like this whet the appetite for where we want to be.
“It’s a higher level but we’re not that far away when we look at the games we’ve played against top-league teams this season. They’ve been pretty tight.
Tight
“At Easter Road, down at Kilmarnock and then today – all really tight.
“We were just on the wrong end of a one-goal deficit.
“But, look, I thought our players put so much into the game and made it a really good cup tie.
“But the name of the game is to be in the next round.”
Meanwhile, Murray reckons Livi should have finished the tie with 10 men after Andrew Shinnie was booked for a late foul on Dylan Easton.
He commented: “The worst tackle in the game was the one at the end. It was a really, really poor tackle from Shinnie.
“I didn’t like it, there was no need for it and it could have really hurt Dylan.
“So, we were disappointed with that one and I thought it was a red card. The ref was lenient on that one.
“It was heat-of-the-moment stuff, but it wasn’t a good tackle.”
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