SOON to be declared the UK’s number one single, a newly-released record encouraged listeners: “Let me be your fantasy.”
Enough pop music fans were taken in by Baby D’s words to get her to the top of the charts by 7pm that Sunday evening. But earlier on the day, thousands upon thousands of Fifers woke up with the chance of experiencing something else which would be pure fantasy. On the brink of witnessing or, in a minority of cases, taking part in a triumph that was put past them by so many. Despite being impressive enough over the course of the season so far, this was felt by the majority of onlookers to be a bridge too far. But while the odds were stacked against them, hope was important. Hope that, for just one final tie in the cup competition, they could get themselves over the line.
It was this spirit that Raith Rovers were to cling to for much of the afternoon of Sunday, November 27, 1994. So far in the campaign, they’d put themselves firmly in the race for promotion to the Scottish Premier Division, having been newly-relegated from the top flight six months earlier. Apart from a four-match winless run, taking in defeats to fellow chasers St Johnstone and Dunfermline Athletic (their second loss to the Pars of the season), they’d been steady enough.
But it was their League Cup run which generated the most excitement. To be fair, the old saying that you need a bit of luck to progress in the cup was true for Raith. Of the four sides they had previously faced in the 1994/95 competition, only one was from a higher division. The first tie saw Scottish Football League newcomers Ross County dispatched 5-0 with ease in Dingwall. Then came the Premier Division challenge of Kilmarnock, with home advantage, in round three. The occasion was one where a Kirkcaldy lad who was not yet 22 really shone, as Colin Cameron posted all three goals in a 3-2 victory.
Fellow First Division side St Johnstone were next in the last eight, at McDiarmid Park. First half goals by Shaun Dennis and Ally Graham had Raith looking comfortable, but an early second half John O’Neill goal was the start of an onslaught by the Perth club. Despite hitting the woodwork twice, the hosts failed to equalise and a late third goal by Danny Lennon meant that Raith were in the last four. Alongside Aberdeen and Celtic, First Division outfit Airdrie were also in the semi-final line-up and, with all due respect to the Diamonds, they would have been the team the Kirkcaldy side wanted to face. Raith got their wish, returning to McDiarmid Park, which this time was a neutral venue, to play Airdrie. After Graham opened the scoring in the first half, Steve Cooper equalised for the Diamonds and with no further scoring, even during an extra half hour, it was down to penalties. Raith scored all of their first five kicks, while Airdrie also found the net with their first four before Alan Lawrence stepped up. He was facing a teenage goalkeeper in Brian Potter, who had to replace the sent-off Scott Thomson with 20 minutes left of the first 90. The youngster saved. Raith Rovers, who less than a decade earlier were at their lowest ebb, were in the League Cup final.
And so it was on to Sunday, November 27. A weekend when Raith should have been at home to St Mirren, who, in contrast to the Premiership status they enjoy now, were battling against the drop to the Second Division. Instead the Kirkcaldy men had a cup final to face. Standing in their way were Celtic. Courtesy of a Brian O’Neil goal in extra time, the Glasgow club were now one game away from lifting their first major honour since the 1989 Scottish Cup. As the Hoops were playing home fixtures at Hampden due to Parkhead’s redevelopment, the game would take place at Ibrox Stadium.
While Raith were acknowledged to have done very well to reach the final this, in the eyes of many observers, was where it was to end. To quote the late darts commentator Sid Waddell, they weren’t just the underdog, they were the underpuppy. The TV cameras, the paparazzi, the international media – they all descended on Kirkcaldy in what became a media circus right up until the final hours before cup final day. However, it was very thinly-veiled that Celtic were many people’s favourites to triumph and their wait for a trophy was expected to end without the need for extra time or any of that malarkey.
The line-ups before the game gave some indication of why. Five full Scotland internationalists were part of their starting XI. Charlie Nicholas and Paul McStay had already played in the World Cup for their country while Tom Boyd and John Collins were currently key parts of Craig Brown’s national side which was striving to qualify for Euro 96. However, the Hoops were going into the match in the middle of not only a dearth of domestic honours, but also goals. In their previous seven league outings they had only found the net three times – two of those occasions coming in the same match, both courtesy of Collins in a 2-2 draw with Dundee United.
Raith’s only internationalist on the day may have scored a famous goal against Brazil, but Dave Narey’s last cap had come some six years previously. At 38, his career was in its twilight years, having already taken in many domestic honours with Dundee United. However, there was determination for him to add to that collection. And if it was a barrier to have played at the highest level some time ago, it didn’t stop Gordon Dalziel. The veteran striker had managed more goals on his own in his previous two matches before the final than Celtic had managed in their last seven, with a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Stranraer followed by a single in a 3-0 victory at Clydebank. Those games had been preceded by a 3-0 victory over Hamilton Accies, a game where Dalziel also scored. As a team, Raith were in the zone going into the final.
The hours to the final ticked by, with Raith having stayed the previous night in an Erskine hotel, where the team line-up was announced. As hours turned to minutes, more than 10,000 fans filtered into the Govan Stand – right opposite the players’ tunnel. It was a support which stunned the watching media and, for players who usually played to two or three thousand, it may have appeared daunting. But enough had been done in the build-up to ensure that Jimmy Nicholl’s players were not daunted or overawed. At least until referee Jim McCluskey announced that it was time to take the field for kick-off. And once Charlie Nicholas touched the ball to Andy Walker, it was game on. Rovers’ time had come.
Within a minute, Steve Crawford was fouled by Tony Mowbray as he looked to run in on goal, with the Celtic defender escaping even a booking. The free kick came to nothing, but a statement had already been made, one which Celtic would have to live with for at least another 89 minutes. As the game went on, the deadlock remained in place, but the Hoops, for all their superior experience on paper, knew they were in a game.
A game which, after 19 minutes, saw Raith lead. Julian Broddle’s corner found Crawford in the area. Quickly the Celtic defence moved to close the forward down, with Mark McNally in closest attendance. However, the shot found its way towards goal, outwith the reach of keeper Gordon Marshall and suddenly, the engraver was thinking of the whereabouts of his letter ‘R’. Raith Rovers were in control. It was a position that was not undeserved in the slightest.
Celtic, naturally, fought back, but their opponents were containing them, until the 32nd minute. Tom Boyd’s cross was headed back across goal by Mike Galloway for Andy Walker to blast into the net. Although it was a setback from the euphoria of earlier, the half time interval arrived with the score still 1-1 and everyone of a Raith persuasion was quite happy.
And then there was the second half. Chances came for both sides. Chances went for both sides. But still there were no further goals. Until six minutes from full time. Walker’s shot from the edge of the area looked set to give him his second of the match before coming back off the post. Unfortunately for Raith, the ball fell perfectly for Charlie Nicholas to drive into the net. The kind of break that wins cups. The kind that looked to have won the cup for Celtic and made Raith Rovers glorious failures. Except they were about to get such a break themselves.
With two minutes remaining, Jason Dair cut inside and sent in a shot which Gordon Marshall could only parry. A striker of Gordon Dalziel’s experience knew fine well that efforts like those have to be followed in. Just in case. The opportunity was snapped up and the ‘glorious failures’ of four minutes earlier were back in a position of some power. It ensured that the minutes which had looked like being devoted to Celtic’s trophy presentation would instead be spent playing an extra half hour. Those 30 minutes, despite another helping of blood and thunder football for the nerve-exhausted hordes of fans, saw the ball fail to hit the net again. After seven hours of football in the League Cup, Raith Rovers’ fate would be decided on penalties.
Shaun Dennis scored. So did Willie Falconer for Celtic. Jason Dair’s successful penalty was cancelled out by John Collins, while Andy Walker did likewise after Colin Cameron scored. After three penalties, each side had a 100 per cent success rate. When Steve Crawford and Paul Byrne also found the net, effectively the shoot-out was in sudden death. Stephen McAnespie’s conversion meant that if Mike Galloway failed to match his finish, the cup was on its way to Kirkcaldy. Galloway, though, put his kick away and at least another penalty for each side lay ahead. Responsibility for Raith’s sixth effort lay with Jason Rowbotham, who was denied a place in the starting line-up earlier in the day. He scored. It was over to Paul McStay. The veteran midfielder put his kick to Scott Thomson’s right hand side.
The hand of the goalkeeper who was sent off in the semi-final did the rest. Raith Rovers had won.
Twenty years have passed since that day. It is somewhat galling to think that the 10-year anniversary was marked with the club in one of its most dire spells of recent years, which eventually saw it relegated to the Second Division. However, even that can’t ruin the memories of Ibrox Stadium two decades down the line. And these are memories which will no doubt last for many more decades to come.
Although…be honest, did anyone remember that Baby D was number one?
Sources for this article:
‘Unthinkable’ by Steven Lawther, published 2014, Pitch Publishing (a must-buy for any Raith fan who hasn’t yet done so)
The Tartan Special Scottish Football League Review season 1995/96
Sons View matchday programme for Dumbarton v Berwick Rangers, Saturday, November 12, 1994, and Dumbarton v Brechin City, Saturday, December 3, 1994.
The Dumbarton Terrace 