Jamie Gullan said he was “quite angry” when his sumptuous chip was chopped off by the officials. Twice.
The Raith Rovers striker intercepted a headed back pass from Alexander Webb, who was unaware Gullan was behind him.
The ‘goal’ was flagged offside, then given by referee Graham Grainger after consulting with his assistant.
By the time Rovers had got themselves ready for the restart the officials had changed their minds again.
Full clip from last night, showing the referee and linesman disallowing a goal, having a blether and awarding it, then once the game was ready to restart, changing their minds and disallowing it again. https://t.co/ktIDvPIWOY pic.twitter.com/gyuwTbXtxq
— Duncan Cameron (@dncncmrn) January 25, 2023
Gullan went on to score both Rovers goals versus Linlithgow Rose in Tuesday’s 2-0 win in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.
Anger management
“I would have loved that to have been a goal!” said Gullan.
“It was a good finish, I don’t know want the ref and linesman were speaking about.
“I thought it counted then looked up and it didn’t count.
“You just need to get on with the game and try and get more goals. Thankfully they came.
“I’m gutted about not getting a hattrick but overall I’m happy with how it went.
“I was quite angry,” he added with a smile. “I tried to use it in a good way, instead of letting it get to me.
“I used it to fuel me to try and get more goals.”
That he did, and he could have had a few more.
Within minutes of the disallowed goal Gullan had rounded goalkeeper Cameron Binnie, who’d come well out of his box, before finishing well.
🎥 | @RaithTV
1️⃣ Connolly’s pass sent Gullan sprinting in, holding off his man and calmly taking the ball round the keeper to fire in from far wide right
2️⃣ Lang’s ball found Gullan who once again used his strength and power to find the back of the net#HammerTime🔨 #YourRovers pic.twitter.com/Sj8iCaD9iW— Raith Rovers Football Club (@RaithRovers) January 25, 2023
Ahead of adding a second he cracked the post and forced a great one-on-one save from Binnie.
It was an excellent second-half performance from Ian Murray’s men, which they expected – especially after watching Darvel dump Aberdeen out on Monday night.
Shock avoided
Like Darvel, the West Lothian side went into this one top of their division in the sixth tier of Scottish football.
“We knew that would give Linlithgow massive belief for this game that they can do it as well,” said Gullan.
“It was a tough first half, we knew they were going to come out fighting and they did – they played some good football at times.
“We didn’t need a warning but at the same time we know it can happen in football.”
Rovers will take that mentality into the next round when they welcome Motherwell to Stark’s Park.
“I’m very excited,” he added. “It’s good to get a home draw, no matter who we were against.
“We’ll prepare properly for it and give it a good shot.
“There’s no reason why we can’t win that game and get into the next round.”
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