Raith 'showman' stuns Dundee United to leave fans in dreamland as Jim Goodwin calls for calm after first league defeat

Tannadice victory sees Rovers move five points clear at the top of the Championship

Raith Rovers' Dylan Easton celebrates after scoring the winner against Dundee United. (Photo by Sammy Turner / SNS Group)

Raith Rovers fans are dreaming of a return to the top flight of Scottish football for the first time since the heady 1990s after a huge 1-0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice.

The Kirkcaldy side moved five points clear of their title rivals at the top of the cinch Championship thanks to a slice of magic from Dylan 'The Showman' Easton – as he has been labelled by the club's social media – who produced a goal fit to win any match never mind a top of the table encounter in front of Scotland's second biggest crowd of the day.

There was 59 minutes on the clock when the midfielder latched onto a glorious ball from Sam Stanton down the channel. An easy pass to team-mate Ross Millen was on, but Easton had other ideas. He took the difficult option, turning into the box and into a wall of Tangerine. Undaunted, he weaved past one, two, three defenders, faking one way and the other before planting an unstoppable left foot effort beyond Jack Walton. Raith had a look of Brazil about them in their yellow and blue away kit and it was a goal that a Ronaldinho or Neymar would have been proud of.

Raith Rovers players surround Dylan Easton after he struck the winner against Dundee United. (Photo by Sammy Turner / SNS Group)

“He literally doesn't score rubbish goals. I can't recall one that's not been good,” said Rovers boss Ian Murray of his maverick midfielder’s ninth goal of the campaign.

When you see what Easton is producing for Raith it is puzzling that, at the age of 29, this is the highest level he has played at in his career. Elgin, Clyde, Forfar, Kelty and Airdrie were his clubs prior to joining Rovers. He signed for St Johnstone aged 19 and never made a single first-team appearance. It seems Easton has been Scottish football's best kept secret for the best part of a decade but not any more. Premiership clubs will be watching with interest with his contract set to expire in the summer.

Last minute heroics have been the forte of the Stark's Park men this season, but there was no requirement for late drama this time, just a team battling to get over the line in a match which could have a bearing on the rest of the season.

It was United's first league defeat – but it was a big one. The home fans among the 10,344 crowd were left majorly disappointed as boos rang out at full-time. In contrast, the 1898 away fans in The Shed celebrated wildly along with the players as they put down a huge marker in the title race.

Not since the days of Jimmy Nicholl, the Coca-Cola Cup final and Bayern Munich have Raith enjoyed a place at Scottish football’s top table but, on this evidence, Murray's men are capable of taking them there. But there is a long way to go.

"The supporters deserve a little bit of dreaming," said the Raith boss after full-time. "All football fans at times dream of that. You immediately turn to the negative aspect, the disappointment, because we've all been through that as well.

"Inside our changing room, we just keep going. My challenge to the players straight after the win there was, two games to go before New Year, if we win them both – which will be very difficult, home to Ayr and Arbroath – we can only control that.

"What Dundee United do, what Inverness do, what Partick Thistle do – there's nothing we can do. We just keep going along. We know at some we're gong to have a bump in the road. We've had one already this season already, away to Airdrie. People questioned us, Airdrie got a wee bit excited as well about that, and we came back really strong.”

Rovers were decent value for their win in what was an even contest for the most part, with few clear cut chances. United edged the first-half and enjoyed plenty possession in and around Raith's box – but the lack of penetration will be a concern. Louis Moult led the line well, and youngster Chris Mochrie was lively in behind, but they were unable to find the combinations to unlock Rovers’ defence.

Raith failed to register a single attempt on goal before the break – but they made a bright start to the second half, displaying the creativity in attack that United had lacked throughout the opening 45.

Stanton, who was a real driving force in the Raith midfield, saw a header pushed wide by the diving Walton and United responded with Mochrie forcing an even better save from Kevin Dabrowski, with a low effort that looked bound for bottom corner until the big Pole reached down a glove turned it wide.

Easton then delivered his moment of magic to light up the game and while United threw everything in search of an equaliser, Rovers held firm with a goal-saving tackle from Millen on Moult in the 87th minute bringing a celebratory air punch from the right-back.

United have a game in hand, and there is still more than half a season to go, but Murray welcomes the pressure that will now come with leading the division.

"It's a different pressure, but it's a better pressure than chasing,” he said. “We've done the chasing now for a number of weeks, and we've responded every time.”

United boss Jim Goodwin called for calm heads as he responded to the jeers of the home fans at full-time.

"We understand the emotion from our own supporters, and there was a lot of emotion and disappointment in our dressing room because we prepared well for the game, and we didn’t lose because of a lack of commitment or desire or effort.

"But this is our first defeat in 15 games in the league. We’ve got 21 games left and a game in hand on Raith Rovers that we need to try and win.

"It is only the middle of December, and we won’t get carried away. We’ll continue to work hard, aim to improve and hopefully get back to winning ways as early as possible.

"It’s the first time we’ve had this feeling in the league, and having to suffer that first defeat against your nearest rivals is a major disappointment. But we need to pick ourselves up. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves."