Report

Raith Rovers got their 2025/26 League Cup campaign underway in style on Saturday after dispatching Elgin City 5-1 on a sunny afternoon in the Highlands.  

Barry Robson’s team sheet for his first competitive match of the season didn’t involve any changes to the eleven that started against Falkirk a week earlier. Paul McMullan started his second match in a row after signing on around two weeks prior, joining Lewis Vaughan and Dylan Easton in the attacking-based portion of the team. The bench remained almost entirely unchanged, with Jack Hamilton continuing his recovery from injury as a substitute whilst Lewis Gibson returned after a week out. 

Raith kicked off the season’s inaugural match and settled things down before a familiar name returned to a familiar position… 

Dylan Easton danced into Elgin’s box before being brought down in the 10th minute, which led to a fairly uncontested Penalty being awarded to the Rovers. Easton stepped up to take and calmly rolled the ball into the bottom right corner to net his first of the season.  

The strong travelling Raith support might have encountered a feeling of déjà vu seconds later after Easton was, once again, clattered down in the Elgin Box. Raith had their second penalty in as many minutes.  

Vaughan opted to take, but Thomas McHale in the Elgin net did well to deny his effort after the Raith man’s shot down the middle hit the legs of the diving Elgin City shot stopper.  

Vaughan’s misfortune continued in cruel fashion just three minutes later after his chipped shot-on goal bounced off the bar and back into play. The crossbar denied Vaughan again in the 35th minute after his shot from distance took a minor deflection on the way, which left Raith with a corner as half-time approached. 

Jai Rowe thoroughly made the most of Raith’s latest set-piece opportunity after guiding a header into the net from around the penalty spot, giving Raith a two-goal cushion to work with over thirty-six minutes played.  

Fortune finally started to go in Vaughan’s favour two minutes later, when McMullan’s shot on goal was palmed towards him. Raith’s number ten passed into an empty net for The Rovers’ third of the match, with a little over five minutes to go before half-time.  

The half-time interval came and went without any changes, which allowed both sets of fans to swap ends in Elgin’s traditionally set-out ground.  

The home fans who had re-positioned themselves behind Raith’s net had something to cheer about in the 53rd minute after a free kick towards the back post was headed back across goal. Elgin’s Jack Murray did well to meet the ball before hooking it behind him and into Raith’s goal to get one back in the home side’s favour.  

Any joy in the home end might have been short-lived though, with another clash between the Elgin defence and Dylan Easton leading to a third penalty for The Rovers. Easton replicated his effort from earlier and produced the same result, scoring Raith’s fourth of the match with half an hour left to play.   

Jack Hamilton was substituted on in the 67th minute, marking his first competitive appearance in almost seven months after a lengthy and unforgiving injury spell.  

Raith continued to probe Elgin’s back line and found success after an attempted clearance ended up deflecting to the back post, where Josh Mullin lurked. The wide man had a bit of work to do in order to meet the low, bouncing ball, but his diving header found the net for Raith’s fifth and final goal of the afternoon in the 71st minute.  

A few more changes followed in the minutes that remained, but no out-and-out chances came along before the full-time whistle brought things to a close.  

Three points and a four-goal margin gives Raith a good starting point in the season’s league cup campaign, which continues this week when newly promoted League Two side East Kilbride visit Starks Park for the second of four group-stage matches on Tuesday.  

• Written by Hamish Rankine 

Photos