Raith Res 2-4 Rangers Res

[Rangers Football Club 0]

RANGERS kept up their valiant attempt at winning the SFL Reserve League with a hard-fought 4-2 win at Raith as two late goals finally saw off Rovers.

 

 

The Light Blues travelled to Kirkcaldy needing a victory to close the gap between them and leaders Morton to six points with five games remaining.

 

Goals from Robbie Crawford, Kamil Wiktorski, Jamie Burrow and Kevin Kyle gave them the success they needed to keep themselves in contention.

 

Whether they will be able to do enough in the long run remains to be seen with the Greenock club in command of the competition thanks to their 100 per cent record after eight outings.

 

But regardless of whether losses to them and Dumbarton are costly or not, the league is certainly continuing to be a useful tournament for the clubâ??s fringe players to keep in shape.

 

This was a fixture the away team controlled much of and coach Tommy Wilson will have been happy on the whole with the way his players performed.

 

Gers were certainly dominant in the first half and the only surprise at the halfway point was that they didnâ??t lead by more.

 

They began brightly with Kyle and Kal Naismith both having good chances to break the deadlock without taking them.

 

It was a fair reflection of the way the game had begun when Crawford fired home after Kyleâ??s knock down from a deep Darren Ramsay free kick after eight minutes.

 

But having gone 1-0 up, the visitors spurned so many chances which, had they taken even some of them, would have finished the contest before it was even quarter of the way through.

 

Kyle had two more openings but his shooting was weak each time and both sneaked just the wrong side of the post.

 

Naismith saw a decent drive from 25 yards held by the keeper, Crawfordâ??s grasscutter was spilled and Ramsay put an attempt over the bar too.

 

Francesco Stella, a scorer in last weekâ??s 7-2 victory against Ayr, was next to have a go and he should have bulged the net but was blocked on the line.

 

All of that meant coach Wilson would have been a frustrated man as his side was pegged back after 35 minutes through his namesake Jamie.

 

Blair Currie did well initially to keep out a fierce Raith free kick but the rebound fell to the home forward and he scrambled in on the line.

 

Thankfully the away teamâ??s response was good and they were ahead again just 90 seconds later through Wiktorski when he headed Naismithâ??s right-wing corner in.

 

Stella and Kyle could both have added a third before the interval but neither was able to and it was the odd goal in three that gave Gers the edge going into the second period.

 

Rangers continued to press and Ramsay, Crawford and Stuart Urquhart each steered goalwards from outside the area but none of them could find their range.

 

With that, Raith finally settled and began to enjoy a little possession themselves but they couldnâ??t make the most of it at first.

 

Bad finishing and a couple of offside calls kept them at bay but they grew in confidence and levelled after 65 minutes when Nat Anderson made it 2-2.

 

Again, Wilson will have been infuriated at not seeing his players close the game out by that point.

 

And with their tails up, Raith set about trying to win the match themselves after being out of the running for so long.

 

But it was the away team which did enough to come out on top at the climax as they got two quick goals in the final 12 minutes to make the difference.

 

Substitute Burrows had only been on the park for a couple of minutes after replacing Ramsay but he showed great awareness to break the offside trap and dart clear.

 

And with just the keeper to beat, he showed real composure to hold off a defender and slot in to put the Ibrox side in front again.

 

They werenâ??t finished there though and Kyle got a good goal which will do his confidence no harm seconds later as his bullet header sealed the 4-2 win.

 

There was even time for the big hitman to hit the bar and although a fifth never came, there's no doubt this triumph was a merited one for Wilson's team.

 

RANGERS: Currie; Mitchell, Wiktorski, Jordan Wilson, Clarke; Ramsay (Burrows 76), Urquhart (Telfer 59), Crawford; Naismith, Kyle, Stella (C Gallagher 65).

 

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