Ian Murray proud of his Raith Rovers players who ‘gave everything’ despite Scottish Cup exit to Rangers

Ian Murray was disappointed at the manner of the first two Rangers goals but lauded his players for their effort in a 3-0 defeat at Ibrox.

The Raith Rovers manager was already set to go with a depleted squad when right-back Ross Millen was ruled out and captain Scott Brown failed to recover in time.

Rovers defended well until Connor Goldson opened the scoring with a header from a corner just before half-time.

Ryan Nolan’s own goal put the game beyond Raith around the hour mark and substitute Scott Arfield added the third.

“We’re disappointed to be out of the Scottish Cup, that’s for sure,” said Murray. “We wanted to go further.

“My first emotion right now is pride in my football players, I thought they were excellent.

“I thought the discipline, shape and structure that they carried out was great.

“The pride in the football club – the support that we brought today and the appreciation they showed us towards the end. It’s been a tough season, we’ve had to rebuild a little bit.”

🆕Raith Rovers verdict: Key moments, player ratings and star man as Rangers too strong for depleted sidehttps://t.co/kaTH8bkS7w pic.twitter.com/iyAZjFMWQj

— Craig Cairns (@craigcairns001) March 12, 2023

Young guns

There were special mentions for Adam Masson and Grieg Young – Masson especially, who started in place of Millen.

The 18-year-old was “this time last year he was at school”, said Murray.

Murray was without seven players, due to a mixture of players injured, cup-tied and away on international duty.

Rovers have faced similar situations in cup competitions already this season, but the Glasgow giants on their own patch proved a step too far.

They still have the SPFL Trust Trophy final at the end of this month and a run of home fixtures in the Championship that they will be looking to use to climb the league.

“I thought our players gave absolutely everything,” said the Rovers boss.

“We would like to have been up the park more. We did at times show decent quality.

“This isn’t a game that will define our season, this is a game that gives us a grounding for the final quarter.

“If we work like that and execute game plans like that then we’ll be OK.”

Raith Rovers verdict: Key moments, player ratings and star man as Rangers too strong for depleted side https://t.co/Ut0HRBo6cC pic.twitter.com/mcuUsJeZku

— The Courier Sport (@thecouriersport) March 12, 2023

Rangers manager Michael Beale was pleased with the result after his side initially struggle to break down Rovers, noting that it is their third match in a week.

“Raith tried to make the game really difficult,” he said.

“You think after the first goal goes in, the game opens up, but it didn’t. It was a slow game.

“The most important thing is the three goals, a clean sheet and the win.”