Raith Rovers have set up a fascinating title run-in with their latest win, a 2-1 victory over Dundee United.
A win for Jim Goodwin’s men would have made any Raith revival extremely difficult.
Instead, the Rovers have closed the gap at the top of the Scottish Championship to just one point.
Ian Murray said the pressure is now on Dundee United after what could prove to be a crucial result.
Courier Sport looks at the talking points from Friday’s 2-1 victory over the league leaders.
Dundee United head-to-head
Regardless of how the final fixture between the sides at Tannadice turns out, Rovers will at worst come out on top in the head-to-head record against United.
The draw at Stark’s Park earlier in the season has been followed by two victories for Rovers.
It will be no consolation if United do go on to secure the Championship title but, given Rovers’ run of results ahead of this key fixture, it is their results against United that have them within touching distance.
Strength from the bench
Going into the season, it was clear that Ian Murray was going to have a few selection headaches – a far cry from where his squad was last season.
Amid blistering early season form, the Raith boss was forced to leave in-form players out of his starting XIs.
Dylan Easton dropped out at Hibs due to suspension after an excellent League Cup group campaign and had to be patient to force his way back in.
Lewis Vaughan – in the conversation for Rovers’ best player this season – was harshly dropped for the visit of Queen’s Park in September and came off the bench to turn the game around.
On Friday night, each one of the five substitutes, including a brave triple change, played their part.
Midfield options
The headline-grabbing moment came from Scott Brown, whose start from the bench as captain shows that no one is immune from being dropped for big games.
But, as Raith have shown time and again this season, they will fight to the death and those who have been left out have retained the right attitude for when they next play a part.
Whether Sam Stanton’s return was coincidental or not – this being only Rovers’ second victory since he picked up an injury in December – will become clearer with time.
What this does show is that Murray has strong options in the centre of the park and the flexibility to change – especially with Ross Matthews now involved again as well.
Late show returns to set up title race
They wouldn’t have admitted it as freely in the build-up, but a defeat for Raith on Friday would have all but ended their title challenge.
Instead, like many of their matches earlier in the season, they have pulled it back to set up a grandstand finish.
There is still a long way to go and a lengthy trip to Ayr United next, where Dundee United had to fight hard for the three points.
In scenes reminiscent of that astonishing run earlier in the season, just as Friday’s match was heading to a draw, Brown’s stunning strike at the death looks to have set up a tasty title race.
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