Raith Rovers 2
Ayr United 0
League (Championship)
Raith Rovers |
2 - 0 |
Ayr United |
 |
League (Championship) |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
| Anton Dowds (8, 15) | None. |
| Team Managers | |
| Dougie Imrie |
Gary Naysmith |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
J Rae (G) 1 J Rowe (D) 2 Z Delaney (D) 3 P Hanlon (D) 4 C Fordyce (D) 5 (78) J Robertson (M) 11 (65) C Adamson (M) 14 Yellow card (65) P McMullan (M) 18 (65) C Telfer (M) 21 Yellow card K Montagu (M) 25 A Dowds (F) 19 |
Harry Stone .1 Scott McMann .33 Dylan Watret .32 Kevin Holt .5 Leon King .8 Liam Dick .3 Reece Lyon .6 Ben Summers .16 Luke McBeth .20 Ross Taylor .11 Owen Stirton .7 |
| Bench | |
|
L Armstrong (G) 13 L Stevenson (D) 16 R Millen (D) 22 (78) K Turner (M) 8 (65) S Brown (M) 20 (65) D Easton (M) 23 (65) S Tiffoney (F) 15 |
Liam Russell .38 Kenzie Mitchell .25 Thomas Hatton .17 Jack Simpson .35 Jamie Murphy .15 Nick McAllister .2 Jamie Douglas .34 Matthew Warbrick .26 |
| Substitutions | |
| None. |
Nick McAllister for Ben Summers (61) Jamie Murphy for Scott McMann (64) Thomas Hatton for Ross Taylor (76) Jamie Douglas for Owen Stirton (88) |
| Cautions | |
| None. |
Ben Summers (61) |
| Red Cards | |
| None. |
Leon King (5) |
| Match Officials | |
|
Lloyd Wilson (Referee) |
Match Report
Raith Rovers opened their home account in the 2026–27 Championship with a controlled 2–0 win over Ayr United, thanks to an early brace from striker Anton Dowds.
The match was effectively decided in the first 15 minutes. Ayr’s task was made harder on five minutes when defender Leon King was sent off, leaving the visitors to play most of the game with 10 men.
Raith capitalised quickly. Dowds struck in the 8th minute to give the hosts the lead, then doubled the advantage just before the quarter-hour mark with his second goal. By half-time it was 2–0, and although Ayr competed, they managed only a handful of shots and never seriously threatened the Raith goal.
The second half saw Raith manage the game comfortably. Ayr brought on fresh legs in attack, including Jamie Murphy and Thomas Hatton, but could not carve out clear chances against a well-organised Raith defence marshalled by Paul Hanlon. Raith made late changes to see out the win, with Dylan Easton, Scott Tiffoney and Kyle Turner among the substitutes helping to close down the game.
Squad Statistics (as at August 22nd, 2026)
| 2026-27 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| Harry Stone (GK) | 24 |
|
8 | - | 32 | - |
| Kevin Holt | 33 |
|
8 | 1 | 48 | 5 |
| Dylan Watret | 19 |
|
8 | - | 67 | 4 |
| Scott McMann | 30 |
|
4 | - | 91 | 2 |
| Liam Dick | 31 |
|
8 | - | 44 | 1 |
| Leon King | 22 |
|
5 | - | 39 | 2 |
| Luke McBeth | 26 |
|
8 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Ben Summers | 22 |
|
8 | 2 | 24 | 2 |
| Reece Lyon | 26 |
|
8 | - | 8 | - |
| Ross Taylor | 22 |
|
8 | 4 | 8 | 4 |
| Owen Stirton | 19 |
|
8 | 4 | 8 | 4 |
| Nick McAllister (sub) | 25 |
|
5 | - | 145 | 5 |
| Jamie Douglas (sub) | 16 |
|
3 | - | 4 | - |
| Jamie Murphy (sub) | 36 |
|
5 | 1 | 106 | 22 |
| Thomas Hatton (sub) | 20 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
League Table (as at August 22nd, 2026)
| Pld | W | D | L | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Stenhousemuir | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 2. | Raith Rovers | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 3. | Partick Thistle | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 4. | Livingston | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 5. | Ayr United | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 6. | Arbroath | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 7. | ICT | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 8. | Dunfermline At | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 9. | Inverness Caledonian | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10. | Morton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 11. | Queen's Park | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |