Ian Murray insists Raith Rovers believe they can now go ‘one further’ and reach the Premiership after proving they are no longer ‘soft touches’ in the drama of their play-off win against Partick Thistle.
The Kirkcaldy outfit prevailed in a nerve-jangling penalty shoot-out against the Jags, who had overcome a one-goal deficit to level the tie 3-3 on aggregate.
Remarkably, Blair Alston got all three of his side’s goals over the two games with a double at Stark’s Park either side of Ross Matthews’ header.
At the end of three and a half hours of frenetic football, spot-kicks were required to separate the teams.
And, following misses from Raith skipper Scott Brown and Partick duo Jack McMillan and Rocco Diack, it was left to Lewis Vaughan to hammer in the decisive penalty.
Murray’s men now wait to see whether it will be St Johnstone or Ross County they face in the final.
But he has urged them to grasp their opportunity and prove they are good enough to reach the top-flight.
“The quality in the second-half kind of stopped from both teams,” he admitted as he heaped praised on Partick. “I put that down to nerves, pressure moments and tiredness as well.
“And, when it gets to penalties, it becomes a lottery in the game.
‘Fantastic’
“Fair play to both sets of players, I think they’ve shown once again the Championship is just such a competitive league to be in.
“But the overriding fact is it’s fantastic for the football club, fantastic for the supporters and the players, and we can look forward to the final.
“We want to go one further now.
“We’ve come through a really gruelling 36-game season and two really tough play-offs games.
“We’ve got two more to go now, against top-level opposition, regardless of who that is.
“So, we’ll have to play better than we did [on Friday night]. But we will do.”
There were jubilant scenes after Vaughan’s penalty winner as fans poured onto the pitch.
But once the raucous celebrations had died down there was a realisation they have it all to do again – at home on Thursday night and away the following Sunday.
It was straight into recovery mode as preparations begin for the final.
But Murray allowed himself a moment of reflection on the success of the season so far.
‘Emotional energy’
“It was a really tough game and we expected that after the first one,” Murray added. “It was hard at Firhill and hard again.
“A lot of emotional energy was obvious. Physically as well.
“But the way we came through it shows we’ve got a little bit about us.
“Last season, that Raith Rovers were one of those teams that were a little bit soft at times, or were perceived to be soft.
“This season, we’ve shown we’re not, because we’ve had so many close games – one-goal victories and very narrow defeats.
“We’ve managed to go to Tannadice and Somerset Park, Inverness and win games, really, really hard places to go.
“We know we’re not a soft touch now. That’s put to bed now.
“When you win a penalty shoot-out in a play-off game, and when you’re actually a goal behind after the first penalty-kick, then it shows the players never give up.
“They never stop, they keep believing.
“But, when it gets to penalties, I’m not going to say it’s all about the football. It’s about mentality, it’s about who holds their nerve a bit.
“I feel for the boys that missed – Scott Brown for us and the two two Partick boys – fair play for them for stepping up.”
