Raith Rovers’ Laurie Ellis has put the brakes on his other career as a fully-qualified driving instructor to devote all his attention to handing out defending lessons on the football park.
Ellis and the rest of the Raith defence were outstanding on Saturday as they comprehensively snuffed out Ross County as an attacking force.
Their grit and determination was rewarded with a clean sheet and all three points, courtesy of an injury-time winner by Jamie Mole. It was another late, late show from the Stark’s Park outfit following the previous week’s stoppage-time win at Cowdenbeath.
The victory over Ross County took Raith to the top of the first division table and a delighted Ellis came straight from the dressing room to chat. He was carrying an after-match snack consisting largely of a bunch of grapes-which was rather apt as like a good wine, he really seems to be getting better with age.
“We realise that every game is not going to bring us three points, but I think everyone saw today that we will give maximum effort to get them,” said Ellis, who was the worthy recipient of the man-of-the-match award.
“It did feel like it was heading for a 0-0 draw as we had a few good chances, but their keeper had pulled off some great saves. I had said to (Raith captain) Iain Davidson with five minutes to go that we would just stay tight and take the point.
“But there is great spirit in this side as well as outstanding work rate and stamina. That combination of spirit and fitness means we can go late in games.”
As Ellis remarked, the match had seemed destined to end in stalemate. The first half had been a hard-fought war of attrition with both sides cancelling each other out.
Chances were few and far between with Raith’s Willie Dyer going closest to breaking the deadlock with a 20-yard free-kick which County’s keeper Michael McGovern did well to save at his near post.Outstanding savesMcGovern was the Staggies’ hero again in the second half producing a string of outstanding saves to frustrate Raith, most notably from a Craig Wilson 22-yard rocket and to deny Mole as he raced straight through on goal.
However, the on-loan Hearts striker had the last laugh in an almost identical situation in the third minute of injury-time. Davidson hit a long ball from the halfway line, which bisected the County rearguard and fell straight to the onrushing Mole.
This time, he won the battle of wits with McGovern and drilled the ball into the corner of the keeper’s net.
Mole was lucky to still be on the field, as he had earlier back-heeled the Staggies’ Scott Boyd after a tussle for a high ball-something which incensed County manager Derek Adams, who also later accused him of using an elbow.
As Raith left the field to a standing ovation, news filtered through that their near neighbours Dunfermline had dropped two points at Dundee and had slipped into second place in the table behind the Kirkcaldy side.
“I had not thought too much about the Dunfermline result as we were expecting them to roll on and win games,” said Ellis. “They are a good side and we were just concentrating on keeping in touch with them and hopefully be in striking distance when it came to the derby in three weeks’ time.
“So, it is a bonus for us that they dropped two points. We are just 10 games in and we have our own goals and targets that will remain private within the dressing room. We set targets at different stages of the season but we are not even going to mention what is going to happen come May we will just do our best until then.
“I do not really feel as if I was deserving of the man-of-the-match award,” he added. “We were just concentrating on defending and keeping a clean sheet-that’s our job. If we can do that, we always seem to get goals up front to win games.”Adams angeredAn irate Adams, who is serving a six-match touchline ban following an earlier eight-game ban, launched an astonishing verbal volley at a wide variety of targets.
They included the SFA and, although he did not mention them by name, Raith’s Mole and even Celtic manager Neil Lennon following his over-exuberant celebrations at Tannadice last week.
“We are disappointed to lose in the last minute of the game to a goal which I have been told was offside,” he said. “There were also two red cards in the game which the referee has not seen. A Raith Rovers player has kicked out and then elbowed one of our players.
“It is outrageous. These decisions are not going for us at the moment and something has to change. I have been punished so many times this year and yet I see other people and teams not being punished. It is despicable what is happening to me and my team.
“The SFA need to have a hard look at themselves. There are problems at the top. We see it week in week out. You have people running 30 yards along the track (Lennon at Tannadice last week) after being warned and nothing happens.”
Not surprisingly, Raith boss John McGlynn was a much calmer and happier man.
“We deserved to win the game,” he said. “There was not much in it but I felt we shaded it. We played right to the end again. It is pleasing to be at the top of the league, but there is certainly a long way to go.”
The only disappointing factor from a Raith viewpoint was the low crowd of 1776.
The hard-working McGlynn, along with his players and chairman Dave Somerville, can rightly feel aggrieved that the Kirkcaldy public are not turning out in greater numbers to witness what they are achieving at the moment.