By Blair McNally
Raith Rovers claimed top spot in the Scottish Championship after they dismantled a poor Morton side, comfortably cruising to a brilliant 5-0 win.
Raith started the brighter of the two as they had the chance to claim top spot, their youthful side setting off with gallons of energy.
The first chance of the match came in the 11th minute after a corner found Danny Armstrong at the back post, who proceeded to have consecutive shots cleared off the line. He was denied a penalty shout as the Raith bench claimed the second attempt was blocked by the hand of Gary Oliver, however, the claims were dismissed.
In the 18th minute Lewis Strapp left a dangling leg as Armstrong made his way into the box, giving away a penalty in the process. Armstrong confidently stepped up and sent Aidan McAdams the wrong way, blasting the ball into the bottom left corner.
Four minutes later and Raith’s lead was deservedly doubled. The scorer whipped a dangerous corner into the Morton box, assisting last week’s Dundee hero, Franky Musonda, who nodded a glancing header past a hopeless McAdams.
In the 38th minute Morton’s worries would be accelerated as a furious Jim McAlister gave Willie Collum no option but to brandish a straight red card after he flew high and late into a 50/50 tackle with Armstrong.
Two minutes into the second half and Raith finished off a Morton side who failed to turn up on the day. The ball was worked into Ethan Ross on the left, who had caused problems all afternoon. He found Matthews free in the centre of the goal to finish from six yards out.
Five minutes later it was 4-0 as a remarkable defence splitting pass from Regan Hendry was latched onto by Matthews, who finished emphatically into the right corner of the Morton goal.
A great day for Raith was finished off by substitute Mendy, volleying home from a bouncing loose ball after a corner wasn’t cleared by the Morton defence. Here are three things we learned from the thumping 5-0 Rovers win.
Raith excite
With a squad packed with youth prospects including Ross and Dylan Tait, this seems to be the start of something special for Rovers.
They ended matchday four top of the league after Dunfermline failed to defeat Ayr away from home. Rovers will be looking to kick on and perhaps battle at the Championship’s top end.
Morton misery
Morton failed to cause any real problems against a free-flowing Raith side and didn’t look anywhere near last week’s performance in their 3-2 victory over Ayr.
After going two goals down there was a lack of urgency from anyone on the park as frustration grew amongst the Morton faithful. This ultimately led to McAlister being handed a straight red card after a dangerous challenge. Raith took full advantage by dominating throughout and racking up a convincing scoreline.
Raith will challenge for promotion
With leaders in Hendry, Kyle Benedictus and Jamie MacDonald, Raith seem to have clicked as a squad this season, using these instruments as a base to build on.
After their League One title win, Rovers have gone from strength to strength with a mix of youth and experience contributing to an excellent start to the season.