Alloa muster late challenge to no avail

ALLOA ATHLETIC 1

RAITH ROVERS 2 87min Irvine pen 22min Smith 61min Tosh

THE day after the funeral of one of their favourite sons, Raith Rovers took a step towards First Division survival with a vital victory against fellow strugglers Alloa at Recreation Park.

Sadly there was no Jim Baxter to add a little magic but what the game lacked in artistry, it most certainly made up for in effort. In the fine tradition of relegation tussles, we were treated to a brace of red cards and two penalties - one missed - to add to the frenetic fare on offer. Although goals from Andy Smith and Paul Tosh were enough to take all three points back to Kirkcaldy, there was a degree of panic in the latter stages when Willie Irvine converted an 87th minute penalty to set Fife nerves on edge.

There was no sign of any trepidation from the home outfit in the early stages as they camped in the Rovers half for most of the first 20 minutes.

With the visitors defence looking less than secure, the gaps were there for the Wasps to exploit and centre half Steven Thomson tried his best to do just that. Twice within minutes of each other, Thomson was given the room to connect with Irvine's free kicks but twice he directed his headers off target.

Ross Hamilton, too, squandered a superb chance when Guido van de Kamp's massive clearance eluded a static back line to put the striker through on goal. Hamilton, though in a great deal of open space, took his shot early and it spun wide.

When Rovers took the lead then, it was well against the run of play and there was a large element of good fortune surrounding the goal.

Thomson and van de Kamp appeared to leave a high ball to each other and Smith gladly ended any confusion by planting the loose ball into the open net.

Despite the goal, there was to be little change in the pattern of play as Alloa continued to create and pass up the better chances.

Evans' free kicks were not being dealt with at all well by the visitors and both Gareth Evans and Gregg Watson sent efforts wide before only Paddy Kelly's headed clearance kept Evans' superb overhead kick from equalising.

The second half was only eight minutes old when Smith's barrelling run on goal was halted by a crude challenge from Allan McManus two yards inside the box. Though van de Kamp was to acrobatically save Tosh's spot kick, McManus was ordered off and Alloa looked doomed. There was no real surprise then when Tosh added a second for Rovers just after the hour, slotting home after John McQuillan had bravely blocked Smith's shot.

Seven minutes later Evans collected Alloa's second red of the afternoon for a late challenge on Raith keeper Samuel Monin but, unlikely as it seemed, Alloa were to put Rovers under late pressure. Irvine's penalty converted with three minutes left was the result of Paul Browne's push on Hamilton and only Ian Little's insistence on beating the same man twice denied him a crack at an improbable equaliser right at the death.

Copyright 2001
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