TWELVE months ago, Raith Rovers were going head-to-head with Dunfermline Athletic for a place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
With just three matches of the first division season remaining this time round, they are embroiled in a much different battle.
If John McGlynn's side avoid relegation, they will have Partick Thistle to thank for their generosity during their four meetings with the Firhill club this season. Of the 35 points Raith have collected thus far, 10 have been garnered from Thistle, who have seen their own ambitions of a second-place finish fade in recent weeks – they find themselves marooned in sixth position as the campaign draws to a close.
Raith have certainly been Thistle's bogey team over the course of the last nine months, with even a performance that merited all three points on Saturday returning just the one. It could have been worse, too. After a Paul Paton own goal cancelled out Sean Welsh's opener for Thistle, Raith suddenly sparked into life, sensing that a victory that had appeared outwith their reach for much of the afternoon was suddenly within their grasp.
In a frantic finale, they were twice denied a victory that would have taken them two points clear of ninth-placed Ayr United and five ahead of bottom club Queen of the South with just three fixtures of the season remaining.
Thistle were in control for much of the match but were left relieved as Raith's Grant Murray had his back post header ruled out for offside before a John Baird strike came crashing back off Scott Fox's post. Those missed chances could yet prove pivotal come May 5.
"I felt we had managed to get ourselves a winner there but the linesman has judged it offside so we have got to accept it," said Murray of his ruled-out goal. "I didn't think I was offside, I thought the guy who was marking me was goal side of me.
"The linesman has maybe not seen who has put the ball in the net, he has just seen someone offside and flagged. Some go for you, some go against you.
"You don't know what is happening in other games, you just need to take care of your own game and get the three points. If we score there, we hold on and we take the three points. Who knows, it might be the point that saves us."
While Raith were left to ponder what might have been, it was a case of what should have been for Jackie McNamara and his Thistle players. The performance on Saturday may not have been the Firhill side's most accomplished of the campaign yet they will feel aggrieved at only taking a point from a match which they deserved better.
McNamara was forced to break up his attacking trio of Kris Doolan, Paul Cairney and Chris Erskine due to injury, with the hosts never looking at their most potent.
Chances did arrive, with Cairney and Welsh firing free-kicks over David McGurn's goal in the first half, while Erskine had a shot saved by the Raith goalkeeper. Either side of Welsh's goal on 64 minutes – the midfielder stabbing home a Cairney corner – Thistle failed to convert their possession advantage into something more tangible, with a late defensive lapse proving costly.
"I thought we had enough chances to win the game," said McNamara, whose side now sit two points adrift of Livingston. "I don't think they posed a threat in open play. My main concern was the second ball from set pieces. At this level, it is all about concentrating and we got penalised for not concentrating and lost two points."
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