Raith Rovers visited Palmerston for the first time since the Championship Play-Off Final in May 2019, however, a disappointing defensive display from Queen of the South saw the Doonhamers concede five goals to an impressive Rovers side. A Stephen Dobbie penalty and Ayo Obileye?s first goal for the club were not enough as goals from Ross Matthews, Manny Duku (2), Dan Armstrong and Dylan Tait saw the away team get the three points with style. The 5-2 scoreline did somewhat flatter the visitors, but there?s no doubt that the win was deserved.
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The teams line up and show racism the red card
Temporary managers Dobbie and Willie Gibson made two changes to the side from last weeks loss at Somerset Park, with the latter starting himself at left-back due to James Maxwell?s suspension, while Connor Shields returned to the side in place of Harry Robinson.
The game didn?t take long to get underway as some slack defending in the centre of the park from the hosts allowed Dan Armstrong to lift a pass over to Ross Matthews who made no mistake, sliding the ball past Rohan Ferguson from 12-yards.
Matthews nets within the first minute
It was the worst possible start from the hosts, going down after just 56 seconds, although it was the best possible response, with Queens levelling from the spot.
A neat ball into the box from Aidan Fitzpatrick to Euan East allowed the Queens striker to line-up a shot, however East was bundled down by Reghan Tumilty before he was able to pull the trigger, resulting in a penalty for the hosts. Skipper Stephen Dobbie made no mistake from the spot, sending ex-Queens ?keeper Jamie MacDonald the wrong way.
Dobbie nets from the spot
The visitors were forced into an early change after just 12 minutes though as Aberdeen-loanee Ethan Ross was caught nastily by a miss-timed Gregor Buchanan challenge. There was clearly no malice in the challenge from the Queens vice-captain, however Ross was unable to continue and Buchanan was the second man in the referee?s book.
The early change didn?t affect Raith though, who regained the lead just two minutes later. A cross into the area was cleared as far as the 18-yard line by Rhys McCabe, but Kyle Benedictus? cross was met by the impressive Manny Duku, who nodded past Ferguson from close range.
Duku sends a looping header over Ferguson
Queens struggled to get going in the opening 45 minutes, while Raith were getting joy with their high press.
After 27 minutes things went from bad to worse for the Doonhamers with the away team doubling their lead. A powerful run by Tumilty down the right-wing allowed the full-back to pick out Dan Armstrong in the Queens area who tapped home from 10-yards out.
Armstrong gets the better of Buchanan to net the third
Rovers could have extended their lead further had it not been for a couple of saves from Ferguson to deny Regan Hendry and then Armstrong.
HT: Queens 1-3 Raith
A disappointing first-half for Queens who really struggled for any intensity in the final third, although they never had that issue in the second 45. Before the game could get underway though Joe McKee was replaced by Calvin McGrory, while Frankie Musonda replaced Kieran MacDonald for the visitors.
The hosts came out of the gates flying, looking to get back into the game. MacDonald was forced to save efforts from Dobbie Connor Shields and Nortei Nortey.
On 60 minutes though Queens got the goal their good play deserved. A cross from McGrory, who had a bright second-half, picked out Ayo Obileye perfectly at the back post. The towering centre-half nodded easily past MacDonald to give Queens a lifeline.
Obileye heads home
That lifeline was a short lived one though, as Raith restored their two goal lead just 10 minutes later. Some more slack play in the middle of the pitch from Queens allowed Spencer to roll a simple ball through to Dylan Tait, who found himself with time in the Queens box to pick his space past Ferguson.
The fourth goal was a real kick in the teeth for the home side, who?d so far been very much dominant in the second period.
The Doonhamers were exceptionally unlucky not to pull one, two or possibly even three goals back in the space of just four minutes though. First, Obileye saw a header cleared off the line by Hendry, before Dobbie struck the bar from a close-range free-kick. Just a minute later Buchanan saw his header cleared off the line, again, by Hendry.
It was bad luck from Queens, although credit to Raith who were defensively astute for the majority of the game, defending set-pieces reasonably well on a whole.
After 85 minutes though any faint hopes of a Queens comeback were dashed as Obileye failed to deal with a high-ball, letting Manny Duku get in-behind the Queens back-line and beat Ferguson one-on-one.
FT: Queens 2-5 Raith
It was a disappointing performance by the hosts, albeit Rovers were clinical in-front of goal.
Queens travel to Dunfermline next week to take on the Pars who?ve started the season taking maximum points.
Finlay Jack