Raith Rovers 5-1 Dunfermline: Hosts consolidate second place with derby rout
- Published
Lewis Vaughan scored the first of his two goals in the 31st minute
Raith Rovers shortened Hearts' Scottish Championship lead to 10 points and moved six clear of Dunfermline with a dominant Fife derby victory.
Regan Hendry latched on to Brad Spencer's pass to slot home the hosts' opener but Kevin O'Hara headed the Pars level from Scott Banks' cross.
Doubles from Lewis Vaughan and Jamie Gullan gave Raith a resounding win.
Dunfermline, three points behind Dundee, drop to fifth below Inverness Caledonian Thistle on goal difference.
Dundee and Dunfermline have a game in hand but most teams in the division have five matches left.
The teams finishing third and fourth will play off to set up the Premiership play-off semi-final against the league's runners-up. The victor of that second tie will progress to play the second bottom Premiership side in the final.
Rampant Raith
Gullan scored his third and fourth Raith Rovers goals since joining on loan from Hibernian
John McGlynn's Rovers threatened through Kai Kennedy and Gullan before the Hendry goal, which came at the end of a sweeping 11-pass move.
Vaughan slid in to convert Kieran MacDonald's cross for his first and netted his second from a free-kick, which goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams should have done better with.
Another excellent passing move early in the second period finished with Hendry picking out Gullan for the fourth and the on-loan Hibernian forward showed composure on the left to drill his second past Fon Williams.
Stevie Crawford's Pars, who host Hearts on Saturday, had levelled from a move at a throw-in but were overrun and overpowered after falling behind again.