Ian Murray says Raith Rovers were worth a point and open up on ‘harsh’ red cards

Ian Murray hit out at a lack of communication from referee Dan McFarlane after two red cards in their 1-0 defeat to Morton.

The Raith Rovers manager was happy with his side’s performance after again being limited in numbers.

Sam Stanton pulled out after his partner went into labour, adding to a lengthy injury list.

Morton kept their playoff hopes alive through Alex King’s second-minute goal, but Rovers responded well to a poor start, despite the defeat.

“It was a really hard game,” said the Rovers boss. “It was quite a good game, end to end.

Adapting to the surface

“The pitch was really hard to play on today. It was really firey. It’s solid, actually.

“We had to adapt to that. We were sloppy for the first 10-15 minutes until we got to grips with Morton’s physicality and the aggressive side of their game.

“After that I thought we played really well, a really good away performance.

“I told the players to be proud of what they put into that game – albeit we’re not proud of the result.

“Overall I thought we were worth a point at least.”

Rovers finished the game with nine men after second bookings for Tom Lang and Lewis Vaughan.

Murray was disappointed with the decisions and with how unapproachable the referee was during the match.

“It was pretty harsh on us and the individual players,” said Murray.

“You’ve got to go by the letter of the law, but I thought Tom’s first one hit his chest.

“The second one, yeah he’s had a couple of we nips, but there’s no malice.

“Vonny’s first one was never a yellow and then it’s cost him a red card.

“He punches the ball to the ground but he’s frustrated because we were breaking and the referee has pulled it back – go and book the player after.

“Players get frustrated, it’s natural. Unfortunately the referees don’t understand that too much.

“And the way they speak to you as well is not ideal. It’s half the battle, some of them can’t speak to you.

“The ones that do, you find you can discuss things and get answers. But some of them don’t.”

‘Nowehere near it’

His Morton counterpart was slightly frustrated with his side’s performance but is pleased to still be in the hunt for fourth place.

“I’m happy with the three points certainly but performance, no,” he said.

“The first 20 minutes we were very good but after that nowhere near it.

“Listen, the most important thing was the three points to keep us in the running for the play-offs.