Raith Rovers 2 Dunfermline 1

Sunday, 2nd Jan 2011

IRN BRU First Division: Pars start with Pat Clarke in place of Andy Kirk. Campbell (51) 1-0. Phinn (54) 1-1, Tade (71) 2-1

MATCH PICTURES
The Pars were the first foots at Starks Park for Sunday`s First Division match between top of the league Athletic and third placed Rovers.  Pat Clarke was preferred to Andy Kirk up front, otherwise Dunfermline were unchanged.  John McGlynn went with the same eleven and bench that drew at Falkirk in midweek.

The stands had filled up with a big New Year crowd and the playing surface looked well as the match kicked off after a slight delay.  Raith kicked off attacking the goal in front of the travelling support. An Andy Dowie header out of defence sent Steven McDougall through the middle in third minute but when he picked out Clarke his shot from 20 yards was blocked. Immediately after thaty Nick Phinn was played into the right side of the opposition box but his cut back failed to find Graham who was handily placed in front of goal.

Dunfermline kept up the early pressure when Paul Willis forced the first corner of the game in seven minutes but Laurie Ellis headed away the danger. Raith`s first shot was a tame effort from Gregory Tade on the quarter hour that Chris Smith held with ease.

Graham won a 16th minute corner but neither Willlis` delivery nor Phinn`s follow up could cause anything to worry the orange shirted Raith keeper. A massive Smith throw sent Willis speeding up field and a delft touch took him past the defender to break and then cross for Clarke. The striker connected but his effort was deflected behind for another corner where Alex Keddie was penalised for `climbing`.

At the other end John Baird made Smith save from a dipping 30 yard shot. Then Tade got the better of both Graham and McCann before sending over an inviting ball for Scott McBride right in front of goal but the defence came off the better and the scoresheet remained blank. The visitors continued to live dangerously with Keddie turning the ball behind for a corner but Smith had no problem when that came in from the right.

Dunfermline pushed up but were almost caught out in 39 minutes when McGurn`s kick out was flicked on by Tade for Baird to pull the trigger on the top of the Pars box but he didn`t connect well and the shot was directed well wide right.  Iain Williamson next pumped a high one in from the right but Tade was eased off the ball between Woods and Dowie.

After three added minutes Referee Charlie Richmond brought the first half to a close. Dunfermline started the game the better but Raith certainly got into it better the longer it went.  The big derby day crowd had not really had much to cheer in terms of goalmouth incident and everyone was hoping for something to ignite in the second 45.

Half Time: Raith Rovers 0 Dunfermline 0

Walker sent in a free kick from the left after Woods had halted McBride somewhat illegally and Baird seemed to come back from an offside position as he set up McBride but the Bridie swished at the shot and Walker`s follow up went wide left.  Almost immediately Walker broke through again on the right but Mason was quickly back to thwart his attempt.

In 51 minutes McBride`s cross was sent behind for a corner on the right.  Iain Williamson`s delivery dropped nicely for Mark CAMPBELL who turned the ball past Smith from six yards.  Raith`s lead lasted all of three minutes.  A cross from the right was unconvincingly defended and Nick PHINN was nicely placed to smash the ball home from 18 yards.

Chris Smith let an Allan Walker corner through his hands but Tade behind him was too surprised to convert the 56th minute chance.  Clarke drove a 35 yards free kick into the Raith wall before Walker hit an inswinger from a Raith free kick out on the left causing Smith to hold at his near post.

Dunfermline upped the pace forcing a corner on the right and generally taking the ball to their opponents.  A Willis -Graham -McDougall move pierced the Rovers defence in 66 minutes but when Willis met the cross his shot was blotted out by the central defence.  Andy Kirk replaced Pat Clarke and Stephen Simmons replaced Iain Williamson as the match entered its final quarter.

A Baird pass sent TADE through into the right side of the Pars box and the Frenchman beat off the challenge of Andy Dowie to slide the ball past the advancing Smith for his first goal since September. 2-1 Rovers.

Ten minutes from the end Smith came out and punched clear as Tade attacked a bouncing ball but the chance dropped to Baird and his shot then, from distance, fell narrowly left of target. The Pars pushed up so much goakeeper Chris Smith was out at the edge of the centre circle to pump the ball back up in front of the Rovers goal.

There were nervous moments for the Kirkcaldy fans as the ball was switched about in front of McGurn causing the whistling to start in 87th minute. Smith fired another free kick from his own half that had defenders and attackers jumping for contact but eventually Kirk got on the end of it only to see McGurn pull off a great save.

Austin McCann sent a 91st minute free kick curling through the penalty box with no contact.  Joe Cardle powered over the final chance of the game and Phinn met that at the right post with a strong header that hit Kirk on the back to stay out.  In the end it was a home win and Raith have taken now seven points off their Fife rivals this season.

RAITH ROVERS: David McGurn; Grant Murray (c), Mark Campbell, Laurence Ellis, Lillie Dyer, Allan Walker, Iain Davidson, Iain Williamson (Stephen Simmons 68), Scott McBride (Mark Ferry, 83); John Baird (Graham Weir 89), Gregory Tade.
SUBS NOT USED: Craig Wilson, Andrew McNeil (GK).
SCORERS: Campbell (51), Tade (71)
YELLOW CARD: Walker (13), Baird (79), Davidson (91)

DUNFERMLINE: Chris Smith; Calum Woods, Andy Dowie, Alex Keddie, Austin McCann (c); Paul Willis (Joe Cardle 74), Nick Phinn, Gary Mason, David Graham; Pat Clarke (Andy Kirk 67), Steven McDougall.
SUBS NOT USED: Neil McGregor, Ryan Thomson, Kyle Allison (GK)
SCORERS: Phinn (54)
YELLOW CARD: Mason (45+1)

REFEREE: Charlie Richmond
WEATHER: Dry 2°C
ATTENDANCE 6534

NEXT MATCH: (away) Scottish Cup v Montrose
Saturday 8th January 2011, kick off 3.00pm

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Preview Raith Rovers

Thursday, 30th Dec 2010

Top of the table clash will be a real winter warmer.
Pay at the gate turnstiles open at 1.45pm

In August when Dunfermline and Raith Rovers met both sides were unbeaten and the derby was a top of the table clash. Raith got the better of their West Fife rivals that day to stay top but for the New Year game Dunfermline travel to Starks Park as league leaders by a four point margin.

This will be just the fourth match at Stark`s Park between the sides since 3rd January 2000 and history shows that there is little between them; Dunfermline ahead 36 - 32 on wins and of that the advantage is three at 17 - 14 in Kirkcaldy.

Pars v Raith Rovers: The Full League Record
	P	W	D	L	F	A
At East End	45	19	8	18	81	69
At Stark`s Park	45	17	14	14	65	70
Division One (up to 1975)	22	10	8	4	51	36
Division Two (up to 1975)	22	10	4	8	42	39
Premier League (since 1975)	4	4	0	0	8	2
First Division (since 1975)	33	9	8	16	29	45
Second Division (since 1975)	9	3	2	4	16	17
TOTALS	90	36	22	32	146	139

The Pars best win at Stark`s Park was over 16 years ago in October 1994 when Stewart Petrie and Kenny Ward hit doubles and Hamish French hit the net in a 5-2 win. The last Pars win 2-1 courtesy of goals from Gary Mason and David Graham was in March 2010.

Milestones v Raith Rovers (away)
Last League Victory	20/03/10	2-1	First Division
Last League Defeat	21/08/10	0-2	First Division
Best League Victory	29/10/94	5-2	Div One (old)
Worst League Defeat	01/01/83	0-6	Div One (old)

In the last dozen league fixtures the Pars have won five of them, Raith four and three have ended all square.

Last twelve league meetings
2010/2011
First Division	Dunfermline	2-2	Raith Rovers	13/11/10
First Division	Raith Rovers	2-0	Dunfermline	21/08/10
2009/2010
First Division	Raith Rovers	1-2	Dunfermline	20/03/10
First Division	Dunfermline	2-1	Raith Rovers	16/03/10
First Division	Raith Rovers	1-2	Dunfermline	07/11/09
First Division	Dunfermline	0-2	Raith Rovers	18/03/00
1999/2000
First Division	Dunfermline	0-2	Raith Rovers	18/03/00
First Division	Raith Rovers	3-0	Dunfermline	03/01/00
First Division	Dunfermline	1-1	Raith Rovers	06/11/99
First Division	Raith Rovers	2-2	Dunfermline	18/09/99
1996/97
SPL	Raith Rovers	0-1	Dunfermline	15/03/97
SPL	Dunfermline	2-0	Raith Rovers	01/01/97

Raith recovered from two goals down at East End Park six weeks ago.  First half goals from Pat Clarke and Calum Woods were followed by the drama of a Neil McGregor red card and then an 83rd minute goal from Iain Williamson and a chilling Walker equaliser in the second minute of added time.

Raith Rovers	Dunfermline
Current League Position
2	1
Last six league games
WWLDDD	WLDWDW
League Points
29	33
Goal Difference
+10	+17
Home / Away League Record
P7, W5, D0, L2	P7, W3, D1, L3

Raith Rovers haven`t played at home since losing to Queen of the South on 6th November.  They haven`t won at home since 25th September.  The Pars away form has dipped of late with only one point from the last nine available on the road. They have not won an away game since 25th September.

Recent Form this season - home / away
Raith Rovers (home)				Dunfermline (away)
Queen of the South	L	0-1		Morton	L	1-2
Ross County	W	1-0		Dundee	D	2-2
Stirling Albion	L	0-3		Queen of the South	L	0-2
Falkirk	W	2-1		Partick Thistle	W	2-0
Morton	W	1-0		Rangers	L	2-7
Hamilton	W	1-0		Stirling Albion	W	2-3

Last Time Out

DUNFERMLINE (v Cowdenbeath): Chris Smith; Calum Woods, Andy Dowie, Alex Keddie, Austin McCann (c); Paul Willis (Joe Cardle 77), Nick Phinn (Ryan Thomson 77), Gary Mason, ; David Graham; Andy Kirk (Pat Clarke 58), Steven McDougall.
SUBS NOT USED:  Neil McGregor, Kyle Allison (GK)

RAITH ROVERS (v Falkirk): David McGurn; Grant Murray, Mark Campbell, Laurence Ellis, Lillie Dyer, Allan Walker, Iain Davidson,  Iain Williamson (Stephen Simmons 67), Scott McBride (Mark Ferry 86); John Baird, Gregory Tade.
SUBS NOT USED: Graham Weir, Craig Wilson, Andrew McNeil (GK).

Plenty of familiar faces at Starks Park with former Pars men Craig Wilson, Iain Williamson, Stephen Simmons and Scott McBride now Rovers. Even Jamie Mole once on loan at East End Park is now a Rover.

Come on ye Pars!

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