“It’s not done yet,” vowed Lewis Vaughan after Raith Rovers’ dramatic triumph over Partick Thistle on Friday night.
The jubilant pitch invasion and outpouring of emotion in the home ranks laid bare the tensions of the penalty shoot-out that finally separated the sides after a 3-3 aggregate draw.
It was a Premiership play-off semi-final fraught with nerves but illuminated by moments of brilliance that left Raith closer to their dream of promotion to the top-flight.
Courier Sport has taken a look back at a potentially pivotal night in the club’s history.
Relief and ecstasy
Such was the passion of the instinctive pitch invasion that followed Lewis Vaughan’s decisive spot-kick it was almost as if Raith had been promoted already.
But it was that kind of occasion, when victory was everything.
Manager Ian Murray had spoken beforehand of being certain nerves would not play a part in the second-leg.
In the end, they certainly did.
Raith dealt admirably with going behind on the night the first time when they were pegged back level in the tie.
However, from the moment Blair Alston made it 2-1 with his third goal of the two matches, the enormity of what was happening appeared to take hold.
Rovers were subdued for most of the second-half and for extra-time, when players tried to avoid risks with mostly ’percentage’ football.
To their credit, Partick, despite their gruelling quarter-final win against Airdrie, finished with plenty of energy and came close to winning it, both in regulation time and extra-time.
Defeat was cruel on the Jags.
But to fall at the penultimate hurdle would have been a savage blow for Raith, who proved themselves by some distance the second best team in the Championship over 36 games.
The relief when Vaughan’s penalty hit the net was wholly understandable and the celebrations will have been memorable for all involved.
Can momentum carry Rovers?
If Raith could bottle that feeling of the spot-kicks success it would be a powerful tool for what is now to come.
They have been used to winning games this season. But to have progressed in such a stunning fashion was something different.
The Kirkcaldy men won 20 of 36 league games and tasted defeat just seven times.
After so many late, late comebacks and clinching goals, they took it to an extreme with Vaughan’s swipe of his right boot.
But it speaks to a team that never gives up, that continues to believe even when things are going against them.
Vaughan spoke afterwards of the camaraderie within the ranks.
Their final opponents will undoubtedly have that as well, but the Premiership strugglers will be more used to losing than winning.
Where Raith have the high of Friday night, the top-flight team will have the desperate low of finishing 11th and being forced to scrap for survival.
Maybe, just maybe, Rovers’ momentum can carry them over the line.
Fitness concerns
It was supposed to be Partick, after three previous games and having gone straight into the play-offs without a break, who would be tired.
But Raith were clearly also out on their feet by the end of extra-time on Friday.
The benefits of an 11-day rest looked evident in their 2-1 victory in the first-leg at Firhill.
However, with just a three-day turnaround, and only one enforced change in the starting line-up, fatigue set in.
Without Keith Watson due to a hamstring problem, Dylan Corr stepped in admirably following his dislocated shoulder.
But the former Celtic youngster was taken off in the 82nd minute.
His replacement, Josh Mullin, was then subsequently replaced himself towards the end of extra-time as he struggled with his toe injury.
Zak Rudden was not risked off the bench and Murray waited until just after the hour mark to introduce Dylan Easton following a back issue.
Rovers will be grateful for the six-day gap between the semi and final, and will have more preparation time than their opponents.
However, with two massive matches ahead, and with so much on the line, recovery is going to be crucial.
