Hamilton Accies fell to their first defeat of the Championship campaign as a Dylan Easton opener inside 65 seconds helped Raith Rovers to all three points.
The hosts had drawn three consecutive games to start the season unbeaten, but Easton inspired Ian Murray's side to a deserved victory at New Douglas Park with the opening goal in a fine individual display, before Jamie Gullan made sure of the points 16 minutes from time.
Accies had few clear-cut chances in the South Lanarkshire sunshine and the league table paints a gloomy picture early on, with the side eighth in the table and a point ahead of bottom side Arbroath.
Boss John Rankin named the same side that drew 2-2 at Ayr United last week, Frenchman Jean-Pierre Tiehi up top alongside Andy Winter in a 4-4-2 formation. They remain without star striker Andy Ryan, who is out for 2-3 months after a knee injury picked up in the opening day draw with Morton.
The visitors were also unchanged with boss Ian Murray sticking with the same 11 that overcame Morton 2-1 last weekend, with Jamie Gullan leading the line in a 4-2-3-1.
And it didn't take long for Rovers to make an impact, taking the lead inside 65 seconds at New Douglas Park.
Easton collected the ball in midfield and weaved his way forward before drilling a low strike into the bottom corner past Ryan Fulton from 20 yards.
It was a nightmare start for Accies and it took them until the 10th minute to earn the opportunity to test Jamie McDonald when Scott Martin was brought down by Scott Brown 25 yards from goal. Steve Lawson's curling effort from the set-piece flew over the bar.
Raith suffered an early blow when skipper Brown failed to shake off an injury and had to be replaced by Kilmarnock loanee Kyle Connell after just 21 minutes.
But Murray's men were continuing to cause Accies all sorts of problems down the flanks, with the guile of Easton proving difficult to handle.
In the 25th minute Accies had two escapes when Ross Millen's cross found Aidan Connolly unamrked and his header drifted narrowly wide of the far post with Fulton scrambling across his goal.
Seconds later, Fulton came to the rescue when he made a great point-blank save after a deflected cross fell favourably for Connell in the box. The follow-up from Easton was blocked and Accies kept the deficit to one.
In 33 minutes Accies got their first real sniff at goal when Martin's lofted ball over the top of the Raith defence looked to play Lewis Smith - subject of transfer speculation to Dundee this week - through on goal. The midfielder was involved in a jostling match with his marker and just when it looked like he'd held him off in the box, Ryan Nolan got across to make a crucial block as Smith pulled the trigger from close range.
An inswinging free-kick from Lawson on the left five minutes later found Tiehi, and he managed to force MacDonald into his first save of the match with a header towards the far corner.
As half-time approached, Accies had a lucky escape when, again, Easton was allowed to waltz his way into the box and fire at goal. This time his strike, off balance, drifted inches wide of the far post.
In first half stoppage time, Easton turned on the style with a few stepovers in the Accies box and it should have led to a second. His driven cross picked out Connell, who somehow poked it away from goal and into the grateful arms of Fulton from a few yards out.
Easton picked up where he left off in teh first half and his defence-splitting pass in 56 minutes almost brought Raith's second. The playmaker threaded the ball through perfectly to find the run of Ethan Ross, whose low strike was turned away well by Fulton.
Smith dragged an effort wide for Accies in the 65th minute as they created a rare opening on the edge of the Raith box, pushing to get back in the game.
Rankin turned to his bench moments later when Jonny Ngandu replaced Reegan Minnaugh and the Englishman showed his desire to change things with a good first touch and strike at goal, albeit narrowly over the bar, seconds after coming on.
Accies had a great chance to open up their opponents when they broke on Raith. Ngandu evaded a tackle and slipped in Scott Martin, but the midfielder didn't spot the run of Michael Doyle unmarked on his right and when he tried to return the ball to Ngandu, the opportunity was agonisingly spurned, much to the vocal frustration of the home support.
And that came back to haunt them in the 74th minute when Rovers sealed the points.
Connell got to the byline and although Accies managed to turn it away from goal, the clearance fell for Gullan to drill a low shot past Fulton, who couldn't get a strong enough hand behind the strike to keep it out.
Accies are at home again next weekend when they host Arbroath.
HAMILTON: Fulton, Easton, O'Reilly, Shiels, Doyle, Lawson, Martin, Smith (Brown 79), Mimnaugh (Ngandu 66), Tiehi, Winter.
Scorers:
Bookings:
Subs not used: Smith, Owens, McGinn, One, Newbury, Forsyth.
RAITH: MacDonald, Nolan, Dick, O'Riordan, Millen, Easton (Ngwenya 89), Connolly, Stanton, Brown (Connell 21), Ross (Coulson 84), Gullan.
Scorers: Easton 2, Gullan 74
Bookings: Stanton, Connolly
Subs not used: Thomson, Zanatta, Mahady, Mitchell.
HT: 0-1
Ref: Calum Scott
Att: 1,548
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