Raith striker John Baird apologised to Partick Thistle manager Jackie McNamara, but insisted he is no cheat, after his controversial winner lifted the Kirkcaldy side off the bottom of the First Division.
It appeared that his 65th-minute goal would be ruled out when the assistant referee lifted his flag to signal that Baird had used his hand to knock the ball over the line.
But referee Mike Tumilty overruled his assistant, awarding the goal and sending McNamara to the stand for his protests, only for Baird to admit afterwards that it was handball.
”The ball did hit my hand,” he confessed. ”I’ve not went out like Maradona to try and flick it in with my hand like a blatant cheat.
”I’ve tried to header it, but it’s clipped my hand. I went straight to Jackie after the game to tell him what happened, and I think he appreciated my honesty. I think it was going in anyway before it hit my hand.”
Despite the controversy, Baird was just delighted to earn his team a crucial three points that saw them leapfrog Ayr and Queen of the South into eighth place.
”Winning the match was the be all and end all,” he said. ”It’s great that we’re off the bottom and we can look forward to going to Ayr on Boxing Day. It was a cup final for us, and we showed a cup tie performance.”
Overnight snow in Glasgow forced a pitch inspection at Firhill and, despite a light covering of snow on parts of the pitch, the game had the go-ahead.
Raith boss John McGlynn made several changes to his starting line-up following back-to-back defeats, recalling Dougie Hill, Joe Hamill and Reece Donaldson, but Thistle controlled the early stages of the match, albeit without forcing David McGurn into any real saves of note.
Paul Cairney’s angled drive from 18 yards went wide after 10 minutes, while Kris Doolan was unable to direct a header on target from eight yards out in the 17th minute.
Rovers grew into the game towards half-time and Thistle keeper Scott Fox had to be quick from his line to block a Baird shot with his legs on the half-hour mark after the striker escaped his marker in the box to latch on to Allan Walker’s pass.
The Jags started the second half on the front foot and in the 56th minute McGurn kept the visitors level with a point-blank block as Doolan connected with a cross six yards out.
Rovers took the lead during their first real attack of the second half. David Smith’s shot was deflected over, and Hamill’s corner was headed against the bar by Grant Murray.
The rebound was headed back towards goal by Hill, with Baird pouncing from a yard out to ensure it crossed the line and, although the Raith celebrations were put on hold by the linesman’s flag, the goal stood.
Raith spent the final 25 minutes on the back foot, but stout defending and goalkeeping ensured the points returned to Kirkcaldy.
On 74 minutes McGurn dived to his right to push Cairney’s 25-yard strike wide, and the keeper was at full stretch to tip away substitute Chris Erskine’s header with seven minutes left.
McGlynn hailed the result as a ‘massive relief’, adding: ”It was a very hard-fought win. We kept our shape well, and we were hard to beat, which is exactly what we asked for.
”We’ve got the points, we kept a clean sheet, and the league table looks a lot better so I’m delighted.”
McNamara was left raging with the referee’s decision to allow Baird’s goal.
He said: ”Everybody’s angry. ‘There’s no way we deserved to lose that match. Everybody can see it’s a handball, and I get sent to the stand because of it. It’s very frustrating.”