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Charlie Christie: Recent results for likes of Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Arbroath show that Championship title race is anyone's to win





Along with almost 500 hardy souls I attended last Saturday’s match at Caledonian Stadium, and it was a difficult watch for much of the game.

We never got going in the first half and went in one down after a superb Ethan Ross strike midway through the first period had given Raith Rovers a deserved lead.

It was only after the enforced withdrawal of Ross through injury early in the second half that we got any sort of foothold in the match and his substitution certainly reduced the attacking threat of the Kirkcaldy side.

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I remember Ethan well from his time as a youth player at Aberdeen and was quite surprised he never got more of an opportunity at the Dons given the potential he showed as a youngster.

Thankfully, after a couple of excellent stops from Mark Ridgers, we did manage to find an important equaliser late in the game when Reece McAlear hit a fine strike and there was an obvious feeling of relief as we hadn’t created much in the game, but that point could prove very important as the weeks progress.

Caley Thistle put in an underwhelming performance for much of last weekend's match against Raith Rovers. Picture: Ken Macpherson
Caley Thistle put in an underwhelming performance for much of last weekend's match against Raith Rovers. Picture: Ken Macpherson

It also helped to reduce the gap between us and table toppers Arbroath who surprisingly lost at Ayr.

It was only the Red Lichties’ third league defeat and their first since October 16 which allowed both us and Kilmarnock to get within touching distance of them in an incredibly tight table.

Arbroath have so far gained 38 points from a possible 63; a 60 per cent success rate which normally wouldn’t see you at the top and which is the lowest percentage points achieved at this stage by any ‘table topper’ in any of the eight topflight divisions in British football – perhaps an indication of the significant challenges thrown up by the Scottish Championship this season.

I still think that the league’s only part-time team will find it difficult to maintain their challenge and Dick Campbell’s side travel to Kirkcaldy tomorrow for another very tough game.

Kilmarnock, with the appointment of Derek McInnes, look to have given themselves some impetus for the run in but they are another side who have failed so far to maintain any consistent form but I’m sure Derek will be talking to his chairman with a view to strengthening his squad in this window.

One or two positive additions can make all the difference to any side at this stage especially given the potential problems that the Covid virus may yet play in player availability.

All five sides in the top half of the table will all still aspire to gain automatic promotion through a title win and the match up against these teams will prove pivotal in the outcome.

We have done very well against those teams so far this season but have ‘shot ourselves’ in the foot by slipping up at home to several of the bottom half teams and we must cut out these indifferent home performances to maintain our title challenge over the next three months.


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