Raith Rovers boss Ian Murray has say on social media post deemed ‘poor judgement’ by Dundee United rival

The Rovers manager said he was surprised Jack Walton was booked in the aftermath.

By Reporter

February 23 2024, 2:00pm

Raith manager Ian Murray was surprised at the punishment for Dundee United goalkeeper Jack Walton. Images: SNS.

Ian Murray has spoken of the Jack Hamilton challenge that sparked Raith Rovers in their win over Dundee United AND a social media storm in the aftermath.

Second half substitute Hamilton collected a booking for his sliding tackle on Tangerines keeper Jack Walton with the score balanced at 1-1 in the second half.

Walton was also yellow carded for his reaction – something Raith’s manager admits he was surprised by.

Scott Brown’s last-minute winner rekindled the Championship title race and the Kirkcaldy club followed it up the next day with a social media post that has split opinion.

The official club account on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted a clip of Hamilton’s challenge with the caption: “Sliding into Sunday like… .”

Sliding into Sunday like… pic.twitter.com/htFGmVTzPU

— Raith Rovers Football Club (@RaithRovers) February 18, 2024

The post has been labelled “strange” by United boss Jim Goodwin.

But while Murray admits he would have been irked had his goalkeeper been on the receiving end of a similar challenge to Hamilton’s, he is pleased with how the incident shifted the momentum of the game.

Murray told Raith TV: “I know the club’s been pulled over the coals, but a huge moment in the game was when Jack [challenged Walton].

“We’re not advocating, in any way, that’s what we set out to do.

“We really didn’t. I didn’t know Jack had that in him, but I was delighted to see a little bit of fight from him.

“It wasn’t a brilliant tackle, though, we acknowledge that. I would be pretty annoyed if it was our goalkeeper.

Jack Hamilton, dark blue, squares up to Jack Walton following their clash — Raith attacker Jack Hamilton squares up to Jack Walton following their clash. Image: SNS

“But he got the crowd going. I remember turning round on the bench and saying ‘momentum has shifted now’, just with that.

“That doesn’t mean you’re going to win the game, of course. But it gave us a little bit of belief and the supporters a bit of belief.

“At that point in the game, we were struggling to get hold of the ball, struggling to get up the park.

“Thankfully the goalkeeper looks to be okay. And I can’t believe he got booked for it, which was a nightmare for him because it was definitely not a booking for the goalkeeper.”