Wednesday 25th March, 2026 at 9:28am
Partick Thistle kept up the pace in the Scottish Championship title race, claiming all three points in Kirkcaldy with a 2-0 win over Raith Rovers on Tuesday.
The trip to Fife was Thistle’s game in hand, which had been re-arranged due to the team’s Scottish Cup progression, and represented a chance to cut the St. Johnstone lead at the top of the table to five points.
Indeed the Jags were to play twice before the Saints’ next game so had the opportunity go within two points of Simo Valakari’s side if wins could be achieved against Raith and then Ross County on Friday night.
Dougie Imrie’s Raith Rovers had broken a four-game goalless run with a 3-1 win at home to Airdrieonians on Saturday, keeping them seventh in the table and five points behind local rivals Dunfermline in the final Premiership play-off position.
History certainly wasn’t on the visitors’ side with their last league triumph in Kirkcaldy coming fifteen years ago in March 2011 although they did come out on top in a play-off semi-final second leg in 2024, only to lose on penalties.
Thistle were without first choice ‘keeper Josh Clarke, who was away with Northern Ireland on international duty, with Lewis Budinauckas taking his place between the sticks for only his second league appearance of the season.
Dan O’Reilly returned to the starting line-up after serving a two-game suspension following a red card against Arbroath, replacing Paddy Reading at the back.
Ethan Ingram and Kyle Turner also came into the first XI, taking the places of Robbie Crawford and Ts’oanelo Lets’osa, as Mark Wilson opted for a 4-3-3.
It was a matter of seconds before Thistle sprung into action with the first chance of the game. Luke McBeth headed a ball forward for Kyle Turner to latch onto and the midfielder had a pop from range, but his effort sailed over the bar.
After being pinned into their own half in the opening few minutes, Raith had their first chance of the game on the seven minute mark. After breaking through on the wings, a cross was pinged into the box for an oncoming Dylan Easton to stoop low and head goalwards. However, Lewis Budinauckas made a good save to keep it goalless.
Raith continued to test the Thistle backline, peppering the box with balls from the right hand side, forcing Budinauckas to stay sharp, fisting away a dangerous corner on 16 minutes.
From there, the game shrunk, with both sides battling for control in the middle of the park and little in the way of goalmouth action for the next quarter of an hour.
Kyle Turner was getting himself into space, first overhitting a cross from the right on 24 minutes, before trying his luck with a snapshot on the turn two minutes later which cleared the crossbar.
On 35 minutes, Raith were forced to make a change after Jordan Doherty went down injured on the second of two corners, with Jai Rowe coming on in his place.
Five minutes before half time, Thistle took the lead and it was a magnificently crafted move that broke the deadlock. Loughrey, Ingram and Samuel were all involved in a crisp combination down the Jags’ left which led to Aidan Fitzpatrick bursting into the Raith box. He hit the byline and squared the ball to Ben McPherson who fired home into an empty net to claim the first goal of his senior career and an important one in the context of the match.
Raith tried to get themselves back on level terms before half-time, earning a dangerous free kick on the edge of the D three minutes from the break. Dylan Easton’s effort, though, ricocheted off the top of the wall and was cleared as Thistle went down the tunnel with the advantage intact.
Half-time – Raith Rovers 0 Partick Thistle 1
The restart saw Raith crank up the heat from the opening whistle, with a whirlwind passage of play on 50 minutes seeing Raith threaten to level more than once.
First, Easton had a shot from the left-hand side blocked. The ball pinballed round in the area, falling back to the feet of Easton who curled a shot across goal which bounced back off the bar before eventually being scrambled clear.
Up the other end, Aidan Fitzpatrick proceeded to cause more bother for Raith, cutting inside from the left, with Josh Rae using his wits to turn a curling effort round the post for a corner.
Budinauckas then pulled out a great save of his own, tipping an Easton volley onto the crossbar before corralling the loose ball.
Not long after, Stanway found himself with a free kick in shooting range on the edge of the Rovers box but his attempt went straight into the waiting arms of the goalkeeper.
Wilson switched things late as he looked to shore things up, with Lets’osa and Crawford coming on in place of McPherson and Stanway.
Raith threw the kitchen sink at it as they tried to find a leveller. Richard Chin threatened on the 90 minute mark, but the substitute was unable to make any good contact on the ball, allowing Budinauckas to catch with ease.
It would be Thistle who had the last word, grabbing a second goal late on. After picking up the ball 30 yards out, Fitzpatrick jinked his way past his man, before calmly slotting past Rae into the bottom corner to confirm Thistle’s first win in Kirkcaldy in a decade and a half, sparking delirium in the away end.
Full-time – Raith Rovers 0 Partick Thistle 2
The result sees Thistle shrink the gap at the top of the table to five points. The Jags return to action on Friday, when they host Ross County at the Wyre Stadium at Firhill.
Teams
Raith Rovers: Josh Rae, Lewis Stevenson, Paul Hanlon, Callum Fordyce, Jordan Doherty (Jai Rowe, 35’); Paul Nsio, Ross Matthews, Dylan Easton, Kai Montagu, Andrew Winter (Richard Chin, 60’); Innes Cameron.
Unused Substitutes: Aidan Glavin; Ewan Wilson, Darragh O’Connor, Josh Mullin
Partick Thistle: Lewis Budinauckas; Cale Loughrey (Paddy Reading, 65’), Dan O’Reilly, Lee Ashcroft, Ben McPherson (Ts’oanelo Lets’osa, 78’); Luke McBeth, Ben Stanway (Robbie Crawford, 84’); Ethan Ingram, Kyle Turner, Aidan Fitzpatrick; Alex Samuel.
Unused Substitutes: Connor Storey, Cammy Logan, Ricco Diack, Matthew Falconer, Liam Dolan, Daniel Gray.
Referee: Dan McFarlane
Attendance: 3,422
By David Forrest
