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RAITH ROVERS 3 : 1 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 23rd March 2004
Samson
Rating: 6.00
OG
Thomson
Rating: 5.11
Allan
Rating: 5.62
64m
Reid
Rating: 5.54
Aitken
Rating: 5.93
S1
Burns
Rating: 5.67
S3
Bagan
Rating: 5.71
Bowey
Rating: 8.36
Payne
Rating: 6.19
1 S2
O'Connor
Rating: 5.60
Burke
Rating: 6.52
SUBSTITUTES
S1 - 69
McAlpine
Rating: 5.53
S2 - 78
Jaconelli
Rating: 5.48
S3 - 84
McMullan
McColligan
Dodds
SUBMIT YOUR mom RATINGS
Members of the Internet Fan Club can award players marks out of ten for their performance today. The player with the most points awarded in the two days following a match will be the IFC Man of the Match. All of the points will then be added to a running total for each player and the results published in the mom League Table.

Name or IFC No.
MATCH SUMMARY
This was a disappointing performance and defeat in Kirkcaldy tonight. We have worked wonders at times this season but sometimes you just feel that there is a difference in midweek games between the full-timers and the part-timers. This was our 6th midweek match of the season and only two have been won, one of those a scrambled win over Stenhousemuir in the CIS Cup and the other a super win over Ross County in the following round when we stayed up overnight the day before and had the whole day off to prepare. We just don't seem to get off the marks as quickly in midweek and this was a prime example.

After the superb win at Falkirk the manager was surely keen to play the same team but was denied the services of Eric Paton due to flu. That meant an immediate return to the first eleven for the freshly transfer listed Jim Thomson in an unfamiliar right back role. It's by no means the big man's natural position but he toiled away manfully in the role all night. Joe McAlpine and Emilio Jaconelli returned to the bench after missing out at Ochilview and were joined by Dodds, McMullan and McColligan. Raith were denied the services of Goran Stanic through suspension and new signing Andy Dow through injury but otherwise appeared to be at full strength. The man with the whistle was Scotland's alleged number one Hugh Dallas, not a title he deserves on the basis of tonight's display I'd have to say, but more on him later.

The game kicked off slightly later than advertised but it seemed that Queens hadn't realised it had started at all as they found themselves behind after just 14 seconds! Not a single Queens player had even looked close to touching the ball before the ball hit the back of the net. Straight from kick off Ramon Pereira broke up the middle, exchanged passes with Paquito and then drove past Samson from wide on the right side of the penalty area. It was super technique to strike so powerfully across himself and right into the corner of the goal but the defence was terribly static never-the-less.
Action from Starks.
If that was bad then things went from bad to worse within five minutes. Pereira again was the architect making a good run down the right before Raith switched possession across the park with a series of passes. Bowey was the man chasing to make the challenges on three different opponents across the park which begs the question of where the rest of the midfield were? Eventually the ball was lifted into the penalty area as the defence stepped forward leaving the striker all on his own. It was a tight decision but the linesman Mr Norris kept his flag down and left the forward with all the time in the world to bring the ball down, turn and then slide it under the advancing Samson and into the net. The scorer? Well I thought it was the number 9, Ferrero but the stadium announcer gave it to number 8 Paquito and I guess he knows his players at a glance better than I do!

However, the second goal seemed to knock Queens out of their lethargy a little and they at last showed a little ability at the other end of the park. On ten minutes Alex Burke robbed a defender on the edge of the box and seemed to just about have squirmed through on goal before the last man got back with an important challenge. However, Hugh Dallas had seen a tug on the striker's jersey earlier in the move and called play back to award a free kick to Queens on the edge of the box. Joaquin Bornes received a booking for his early shirt swapping attempt! With no Paton in the line up Stephen Payne took the chance of a strike at goal and his shot got through the wall but goalkeeper Berthelot managed to smother it. In the aftermath, Raith broke up the left side and Nieto beat both Thomson and Allan running into the box before Samson just managed to put some sort of block in and Payne hacked away.

On twelve minutes though Queens found themselves back in the match through the determination of the midfield. First Bowey and then Bagan both won fifty fifty challenges in the middle of the park setting O'Connor off on a run towards the home goal. He drew two defenders before slipping Alex Burke in on the left side of the penalty area. Berthelot did well to get down low and parry Burke's drive to the bottom right corner but the ball ran loose to Sean O'Connor who had the simplest of tasks with no defender near him to simply walk the ball into the goal.

Two minutes later Bornes struck a 35 yard free kick low and narrowly wide of the left post though Samson appeared to have it covered. On nineteen minutes came the first of Mr Dallas' bizarre decisions when Jim Thomson somehow escaped a booking for what appeared a bad challenge on Nieto out on the touchline as the winger skipped past him. From the resulting free kick by Calderon, Pereira nodded on and Sean Dennis headed onto the roof of the net from six yards. Back up the other end and Burke again showed good control to beat two defenders but his shot from 18 yards was blocked by a third before we need wonder if Berthelot would have got there. Another set piece saw the home side almost add to their total on 24 minutes. Andy Aitken's challenge gave away a free kick right at the corner flag and from the resulting cross a looped header struck the bar with Samson unable to get a touch. Fortunately a defender was first to the loose ball though Mr Norris was flagging for offside against the Raith forward attempting to get there anyway.

On 25 minutes came a ridiculous piece of refereeing from the erratic Dallas which would later have serious consequences for Queens and Brian Reid in particular. As a high ball dropped out of the sky Reid went to challenge Ferrero for it. The Raith man appeared to make no attempt to get to the ball and instead made a back for Reid who fell very awkwardly virtually on his head. As the players waited for the expected free kick incredibly Mr Dallas managed to give the award against Reid. Not surprisingly Brian went to the referee to plead his case as a result. Now, I wasn't in earshot and I don't know what was actually said but Reid's body language was certainly not that of a man in full on abusive mode. He appeared to be asking what he did wrong, a question I would not have minded asking myself. The over-officious Dallas however decided that this warranted a booking and then threatened to show a red card before the defender retreated.

More controversy two minutes later as Derek Allan robbed Lloyd Young as he bore towards goal but injured himself in the process, laying prone just outside his own box. David Bagan, clearly unaware of his team-mate's distress played on and lost the ball in midfield, prompting Raith into an attack on goal during which they practically ran over the stricken Allan before shooting narrowly over the top. The Queens players were clearly not amused at the perceived lack of sportsmanship and words were exchanged! Mr Dallas meantime didn't seem to know what he was doing nor was he doing anything consistently. Bad challenges were let go by both sides whilst free kicks were being awarded for a sudden gust of wind blowing players over! He also saw fit to lecture both Raith's Director of football Davie Martin and John Connolly for matters unknown just before the interval.
Two good efforts - O'Connor and Burke.
Queens so nearly started the second half exactly as they started the first as Young's clever pass slid Pereira clean through on goal less than a minute in. However, this time young Samson got down to parry wide with his legs. On 55 minutes Bowey's tenaciousness managed to smuggle the ball through to O'Connor for a run to the bye-line in the penalty area but his low pull back wasn't pulled back far enough and Berthelot intercepted before Burke could tap in. Two minutes later Queens came as close as they ever did to an equaliser as good work from Burke led to Bowey finding himself clean in on goal but his shot from 12 yards was blocked by Berthelot's legs and bounced away. As both sides struggled to control possession in the aftermath Burke was just beaten to a through ball by the alert goalkeeper. However, Raith hit back directly when Pereira did tremendously well to hit the bye-line and his pull back found Paquito on the edge of the box. The Spaniard seemed to have an open goal but Jim Thomson managed to block the strike before it could cross the line and then scramble it clear.

On 63 minutes Queens chances of taking a point were hit for six when the increasingly erratic Dallas decided to send off Brian Reid. It was for a body check on the very dangerous Pereira who had already eluded two Queens player on yet another run forward. To be honest from where I was it looked a pretty clear foul but Derek Allan wasn't booked for two earlier similar body checks. Never the less Dallas couldn't wait to get his red card out and dismiss the defender who clearly was not best pleased with Pereira and exchanged words with him on the way off the park. Connolly took five minutes to decide what to do about reorganising before McAlpine replaced Burns and Aitken slotted into centre half alongside Allan. With 12 minutes remaining Raith sent Maxwell on for Young whilst Jaconelli replaced O'Connor who had struggled to get into the game despite his goal.

With ten minutes reaming Calderon picked up a booking for a challenge from behind on Bowey and, from the resulting free kick, Thomson headed down and Jaconelli's shot from a tight angle forced a good block out of the French keeper who then seized the rebound before Bowey could get there. Two minutes later Queens made their final change with McMullan replacing Bagan whilst two minutes after that Raith put Boyle on for Nieto. As the ten men pushed forward for an equaliser though it was Raith who put the game to bed on 89 minutes. McMullan just failed to intercept a crossfield ball and Pereira was able to run at goal. First he went past Allan like he wasn't there and then did the same to McMullan who had gotten back before firing a cross across the six yard box. Samson could do nothing as Jim Thomson slid in with Ferrero at the back post and the ball ended up in the net. It wasn't at all clear which player actually turned it in, and clearly the stadium announcer wasn't sure either as he said nothing on the matter, but it was probably an own goal to Thomson especially as Ferrero made no attempt to celebrate the goal in particular. To be fair to Jim though, had he not gotten there it was going to be a goal anyway.

So a disappointing result, that goes without saying. Not an especially good performance either, though for most of the second half prior to Reid's dismissal we had looked the more likely team. The result sees us remain 6th and decreases our chances of challenging for second or even third spot but there's still 24 points to play for and we're still in the mix as it were.

Ewan Lithgow
Photo's David Gow


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