Raith Rovers collected the bonus point from their Betfred Cup tie against Ross County with a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win, following a 1-1 draw at Victoria Park.
The Fife outfit had taken the lead in the first-half courtesy of Erik Cikos’ own goal, however County substitute Brian Graham levelled from the spot 15 minutes from time to send the match to penalties, with Ian McShane’s miss handing Rovers the extra point.
County made three changes from the side that got the better of Montrose last weekend, with Richard Foster, Chris Robertson and Craig Curran drafted in for Jonathan Franks, Andrew Davies and Alex Schalk.
The Staggies were quick off the mark, with Curran firing over after being put through by Michael Gardyne early on. County undeservedly went behind on 18 minutes though, when new signing Declan McManus released Lewis Vaughan down the right, with his cross knocked into his own net by the unfortunate Cikos at the far post.
County spurned a fine chance to grab a quick leveller when Richard Foster steered a free header wide from Gardyne’s cross on 26 minutes, however the home side had goalkeeper Scott Fox to thank for keeping the deficit down to one goal, denying McManus a debut goal with a fine block, before doing well to save Bobby Barr’s effort.
County lost midfielder Martin Woods to injury, who initially played on after going down in pain following a challenge by Ross Callachan, but he did not reappear after the break, being replaced by debutant Chris Routis.
The home side were denied what appeared to be a clear penalty early in the second-half when Gardyne was bundled to the ground by Jean-Louis Mvoto, however referee John McKendrick was unmoved.
The Staggies were awarded a spot-kick on 75 minutes however, when substitute Graham went down under a challenge from Jason Thomson, with the attacker dusting himself down to find the net from 12 yards for the second successive week to send the match to penalties.
It was Rovers who triumphed in the shoot-out, with County’s McShane firing wide after McHattie had netted in sudden death, meaning the Kirkcaldy side now top the group.
