Linlithgow Rose captain Connor McMullan refused to be too downbeat following his side’s Scottish Cup exit and spoke of his pride of his team-mate’s display against their second tier hosts.
The East of Scotland Premier Division outfit gave a good account of themselves in front of a packed house at Prestonfield on Tuesday night, especially in the first-half, before falling to a Jamie Gullan brace after the interval as Raith ran out 2-0 winners.
But the Rose were far from disgraced and while the skipper confessed to a tinge of disappointment, he admitted the positives far outweighed the negatives for his club.
Speaking to the Courier, he said: “To be honest, the fourth round of the Scottish Cup is probably a place where we shouldn’t really be.
“We have beaten some good teams to get to this stage and earned our place here but it was a free hit.
“We were delighted to get here and really proud but there’s definitely a bit of disappointment on the night. We were good in spells and stayed in the game but we should have showed a wee bit more quality.
“We didn’t really make the most of it to be honest, but Raith are a full-time Championship team for a reason.
“They got their chances and made the most of them. We’ll take this one on the chin, learn from it and move on, but there’s a lot of pride as well.
“Mark (Stowe) has had a great chance in the first-half that you’d probably back him to score more often than not and maybe if that goes in it’s a different story, but who knows?
“The plan was to play our game. We’re a good side and can play decent football but it never quite clicked.”
The tenacious midfielder had special praise for the crowd –with a sell-out at Prestonfield – and says he’s determined to give them a league title to celebrate come the end of the season.
He added: “We get a good crowd here anyway but that was something special. It would have been good to have given them something to cheer but it never quite happened in the end.
“The important thing is the league. It’s far from won but we do have ourselves in a good position that hopefully we can build on. That’s the focus now.
"Realistically, that was the goal for the season and it would be good for the club if we’re able to do that come the end of the season.”
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