Dundee United seized the initiative in the Championship title battle, with Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Raith Rovers sending them four points clear at the summit.
The Tangerines inched closer to a return to the top-flight thanks to an early goal from Tony Watt and a controversial late penalty from Louis Moult.
However, Raith Rovers have a game in hand to come next week and retain full belief they can still pip their rivals to top spot come May 3.
Courier Sport takes a look at the main talking points from a Stark’s Park perspective following the Tannadice showdown.
Positive mental attitude
After expressing his exasperation at officialdom at Tannadice on Saturday, Ian Murray was quick to insist he and Raith remained ‘glass half full’.
It would have been easy for those associated with the Stark’s Park club to fear the significance of defeat to United.
And not just the loss, but the nature of it.
After a whirlwind opening from Rovers, in which they could have taken a dream early lead on two separate occasions, the hosts were dominant.
Raith struggled to get any sort of foothold in the game and were second best throughout the first-half.
They would have been happy to be able to regroup at the interval just a goal behind.
Having said that, Zak Rudden did strike the face of the crossbar with an incredible effort.
But the hope provided by that near thing was largely misplaced as they failed to seriously threaten Jack Walton’s goal as time drifted away from them.
However, for all the disappointment at coming off second best in such an important game, Raith know they will still be at most a point behind if they can win their next two matches.
Murray has been saying for weeks he sees more twists and turns to come during the run-in.
And, given Saturday was just a third victory in their last seven games for United, there is reason for remaining optimistic that their chance is not yet gone.
Home run
Raith will be hopeful that positivity remains at the end of what Murray has confessed is a crucial week coming up next.
In the space of seven days, Rovers face Ayr United, Airdrie – their game in hand – and Partick Thistle.
That each game is at home will be of comfort to the Stark’s Park side following three games on the road.
Should they manage to meet that challenge, and with United facing two tricky away games against Queen’s Park and Morton, there could be another one of those twists predicted by Murray.
The Raith boss has set his side the target of at least four wins from their six remaining fixtures to give themselves a chance of pipping the Tangerines.
And he reckons they may need three from the next three.
It gives the week the feeling of being make or break for Rovers.
The destination of the title could be a lot clearer at the full-time whistle against Thistle on April 13.
Drawing a blank
Scoring goals has not often been a problem for Raith this season.
More often, it has been keeping the opposition out at the other end.
A 4-4 draw against Ayr United, 3-2 wins over Morton and (twice) Queen’s Park, a 4-3 victory against Partick Thistle were balanced out by 3-2 losses to Inverness Caley Thistle and Arbroath.
It was a defensive conundrum Murray sought to solve after five straight defeats in January and February.
Heading for Tannadice, they had kept four clean sheets from their previous five outings to prove the new approach was paying dividends.
However, the 2-0 defeat to United represented the first time this season that Rovers have failed to score in two consecutive games.
They drew a blank for only the fifth game in 30 league outings.
But, given what is at stake, it is not the time of the season to suddenly develop attacking troubles.
The hope will be that the Kirkcaldy outfit can find a happy middle ground between the shut-outs at the back and the zeros up front.
Paying the penalty
Although not reaching their usual heights, Raith remained firmly in the game against United until Louis Moult’s crucial late penalty.
It appeared at the time an extremely harsh decision from referee Nick Walsh.
On second viewing from TV footage, that initial opinion will only be strengthened for most.
Walsh is used to making rulings on games in the Premiership with the support of VAR re-runs.
Of course, it is extremely debatable whether that would have helped Rovers anyway.
But, even without the technology, most not of a Tangerine persuasion would have questioned Walsh’s decision.
The whistler dished out 12 yellow cards in a game that was hard-fought without being dirty.
His fussiness appeared to bring out the worst in both sets of players, who took every opportunity to try to ‘buy’ fouls and bookings for opponents.
It made for a second-half that was low on entertainment until the controversy sparked by Walsh’s spot-kick decision.
Raith may never have found the leveller they craved had the man in the middle ignored Moult’s theatrical fall and the scoreline had remained 1-0.
However, they will desperate to avoid any more decisions going against them in the final six matches as the looming prize amplifies mistakes from players and officials.
