Dick Campbell was almost left cursing the Stark’s Park water cannons before Arbroath moved closer to the dry land of Championship safety.
Lichties boss Campbell was stunned as keeper Derek Gaston slipped on a ‘heavily-watered’ 4G surface as Scott Brown’s curling effort gave Raith Rovers the lead.
Gaston even had to change his boots after the incident.
But Gaston battled back in the second period and produced a string of top saves to protect skipper Tam O’Brien’s leveller.
That earned Arbroath a crucial point and moves them four ahead of Hamilton and six above bottom club Cove Rangers ahead of a meeting of those sides next weekend.
“It was a great game,” said Campbell.
“The first half kind of petered out but I thought the second half was fabulous.
“There was great stuff, some exciting stuff.
“But the goal? I don’t want to be anything else bar honest.
“I was just telling the chairman of Raith Rovers there: ‘I’ve never seen an AstroTurf pitch getting watered so much in my life, five minutes before a game.’
“And we lose a goal because my goalie slips. It’s a beautiful sunny day and the water…”
Dick Campbell issues rally call to Arbroath fans
O’Brien’s leveller could prove pivotal in the survival fight.
If Hamilton lose to Inverness on Tuesday, then a win for Arbroath at home to Cove Rangers secures their Championship status.
And Campbell has issued a rally call to Arbroath fans to ensure there’s a ‘fabulous crowd’ at Gayfield for the Cove clash.
Arbroath had their biggest crowd in 11 years for the 0-0 draw with Dundee last week.
The Costa del Gayfield was looking glorious at the @ArbroathFC v @DundeeFC clash.
📷 @davidsdronepics pic.twitter.com/OO3TcKp87c
— Ewan Smith (@ewansmithpr) April 9, 2023
And they will hope that more than 2,000 will turn out for the most important 90 minutes of their season.
“If things work out well in midweek who knows?” he added.
“All we can do is go out and try to beat Cove.
“We’re four points clear with three games left and have a superb goal difference. The important thing is to finish third bottom.”
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