It was ultimately a season of frustration and disappointment for Raith Rovers, who had the League One title in their grasp going into the final day of the season. However, they were held 0-0 at home by Alloa and were overhauled by Ayr United at the last.
In the playoffs, they were twice beaten by Alloa, consigning them to a second season in the third tier.
Barry Smith’s side will look back on an opportunity missed, though in truth they were not consistent enough with their performances to merit the title.
The season started well enough for the Stark’s Park club, who justified their status as being one of the favourites for the league in the early weeks of the season as they secured win after win, aided in no small part to the red-hot form of Lewis Vaughan. Once this started to ebb, though, Smith ran out of ideas, with Vaughan’s form and level disrupted by moving him into a variety of different positions all over the field.
Rovers struggled in goal, too. Injuries to Kevin Cuthbert and Aaron Lennox left them scrambling to sign Graeme Smith, who was not as consistent as they would have wished and gifted away a number of goals over the season.
Injuries in the defence did not help, with Kevin McHattie and Kyle Benedictus both having long periods on the sidelines, which coincided with the dip Rovers had in form.
While Raith remained strong at home all year, it was their level on the road that persistently cost them. They only won seven of 18 away matches over the course of the season, and while that record did improve towards the end of the campaign, it was ultimately what prevented them from going up.
Failure to go up will likely lead to part-time football next season, complicating the task next term and throwing Barry Smith’s position into jeopardy.
