Ross County breeze past Raith Rovers to seal Scottish Premiership survival
Yesterday, during their match at Global Energy Stadium, Ross County achieved Premiership survival with a resounding 6-1 win over Raith Rovers. The star of the show was undoubtedly Simon Murray, who scored an impressive two goals to help secure the victory. The team's aggregate score was 4-0, making their win even more decisive.
The Staggies were winning 2-1 after the first game at Stark's Park on Thursday. They increased their lead in the 19th minute of the second game when Murray scored his 22nd goal this season.
In the first half, Raith was possibly the better team but during the beginning of the second half, they were taken aback when County's forward Jordan White scored a second goal from a corner. Following that, Murray scored an incredible shot from a distance of 25 yards, and then the young 19-year-old substitute, Brandon Khela, scored a beautiful curled goal, making it the fourth for the team.
The County team managed to maintain their spot in the top football league last season after an intense playoff game against Partick Thistle. Despite being three goals behind on aggregate, they made a stunning comeback and won on penalties. A big group of Rovers fans turned up to the game with high hopes and managed to create an exciting atmosphere, despite the wet weather that was more typical of winter than the end of May.
The Fifers had a good beginning in the game and were in a good position, but then the home team scored a goal. James Brown passed the ball to Will Nightingale on the right side, who then sent a cross towards the goal. The ball went past White and was headed into the net by Murray who was always a threat in the game.
During the second half of the game, the team playing at home gave up a corner kick. This happened because Scott Brown accidentally redirected the ball, causing it to go out of bounds. Then, Yan Dhanda, who is set to play for Hearts next year, took the kick from the right side. White, amidst many players, jumped up and powerfully headed the ball into the goal.
It seemed like a tough challenge for Kirkcaldy, who had come in second place in the Championship behind Dundee United. Unfortunately, their hopes were dashed when Murray received a pass from White and scored a powerful goal that left Rovers' goalkeeper Kevin Dabrowski unable to do anything about it.
Ross Laidlaw from the County team managed to block shots from Aidan Connelly, Jack Hamilton, who is also a substitute from Raith, and Dylan Easton. After that, Khela, who was borrowed from Birmingham and was playing on the field instead of Dhanda, made his first goal for the Staggies from the boundary of the field. This successful score by Khela secured the team's place in playing at the highest level of football in the upcoming season.
