Raith Rovers ...... 2
Hamilton ........... 1
THE end of another marathon season, and one with mixed emotions for the managers of Raith Rovers and Hamilton Academical.
A season which promised so much for Jimmy Nicholl's men ended with a rare victory at Stark's Park, bringing an end to a barren spell in which they had not won a home match since defeating Partick Thistle on February 7.
However, Accies manager Sandy Clark was relieved that his team achieved the target he had set at the outset - survival.
Rovers went into the season hoping to bounce back into the top league at the first attempt but, through erratic home form, they were disappointed to finish third behind Dundee and runners-up Falkirk.
It is a situation Nicholl hopes his side can rectify next term, although he insists it will take a lot of hard work.
John Millar, Ian Cameron, Paul Harvey, Derek McGill, and Graham Mitchell have all been told they can leave as Rovers try to trim their wage bill. Nicholl said: ''We have to cut our cloth accordingly for next season and we have too many of the same type of players here.''
He hopes to bring in some experienced players to augment the youngsters the club are nourishing. On Saturday Nicholl introduced four young players. Dean McPherson and Ross Venables had places in the starting line-up and Kevin Byers and Craig Smart came off the bench after an hour to show what they could do.
The match very nearly turned into a disaster for Rovers keeper Guido van de Kamp when, in just 14 minutes, he completely missed his kick at the ball from a back pass by Kevin Fotheringham to give Accies the lead.
The score stayed that way until 20 minutes from time when some good work by Steven Tosh freed Craig Dargo, who gave Allan
Ferguson no chance with a shot from around 15 yards.
With three minutes to go, Paul Hartley latched on to a through ball by Jason Dair to lob it over Ferguson for a winner that brought a smile to the face of Nicholl.
He said: ''It was good to give the youngsters a run and finish the season with a win.''
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