Report

Raith Rovers advanced to the next round of the Challenge Cup on Tuesday after coming out on top in a 5-2 goal-fest against League One side Hamilton Academical.  

Dougie Imrie rotated heavily on the night, making seven changes after his side’s goalless draw away to St Johnstone three days earlier. Smith, Gentles, Montagu, Matthews, Wilson, and Rowe were put into the starting outfield team, whilst Andrew Glavin made his debut in The Rovers goal.  

Hamilton got things underway amid a peculiar atmosphere, with Rovers fans housed in the usual away end of the stadium due to minor structural damage sustained during storm Bram. The storm in question hadn’t quite subsided yet, which made for some windy and unpredictable conditions. However, such elements didn’t stop Raith from finding the net early on… 

In the 6th minute, Wilson’s long throw into the box caused chaos for the Hamilton defence. Darragh O’Connor made the most of this, thumping the ball into the top left corner from eight yards out in front of a packed “home” end.  

Raith couldn’t take any of the chances they created as the half progressed though, which allowed Finlay Cameron to equalise after curling one past Glavin in the 40th minute. For all of Raith’s attacking efforts, they went into the break on level terms.  

Raith didn’t take long to reestablish their lead in the second half, albeit in scarily familiar fashion. Just over five minutes into the half, a cleared long throw into Hamilton’s area found its way to Scott Brown, who stood around 40 yards from goal. The Rovers skipper chested the ball down, before creating a frame-by-frame replica of his long-range screamer against Dundee United over 21 months ago. Same distance, same strike, same outcome.  

Jai Rowe kicked off his half-hour hat-trick on the 58th minute after getting on the end of a corner, heading home from close range to put Raith two ahead.  

Hamilton were not done yet though, and made the most of a high ball caught in the wind in the 79th minute. Cameron collected and still had work to do, but the young striker did well to loop the ball over Glavin and into the net. With just 10 minutes to go, Raith’s lead was back to a one-goal margin. 

Rowe put any hopes of a Hamilton comeback to bed just one minute later though, with the right-back once again getting on the end of a set-piece to turn the ball in from 6 yards out.  

Jai Rowe netted his hat-trick in the 87th minute after driving towards the edge of Hamilton’s area before placing an effort into the bottom left corner, sealing the match ball for himself and putting the Rovers’ result beyond any doubt.  

The performance puts Raith through to the next round of the KDM Challenge Cup, which will be played on the 6th of January in the new year. The opponents of said match will be revealed this Thursday. All focus will be on this weekend’s league match though, with sixth-placed Ross County making the trip down to Kirkcaldy this Saturday.  

Written by Hamish Rankine.  

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