Date	Friday, 01 May 2026
Competition	Scottish Championship
Fixture/Score	Raith Rovers 3:2 Ross County
Venue	Starks Park
Attendance	3,309
Referee	Duncan Nicolson
Comments	Match Report Report By Paul Chalk for the Press & Journal. Raith Rovers 3 Ross County 2 Ross County have been automatically relegated from the Championship – after losing 3-2 at mid-table Raith Rovers tonight. It means back-to-back relegations for the Dingwall club, who lost to Livingston in last year’s Premiership play-off final. Kieran Phillips headed the Highlanders in front to give the visitors the ideal platform, but Innes Cameron nodded home a leveller to seemingly break County hearts. The pain was worsened when Jack Hamilton headed Raith in front. Sub Jayden Carbon scored in stoppage time to put County back to within one goal of safety. However, Josh Mullin scored a penalty after that to put the seal on it before the players clashed and tempers frayed on the park. The outcomes leave County two points below Airdrie, who drew 1-1 at Morton, with the Ton staying up in eighth spot. How those rivals fared could have had a bearing for County, but they needed to win first to have any safety chance. County will now play League One football for the first time in 19 years when they came straight back up. It is also the second successive relegation for County, who dropped out of the Premiership last May. Don Cowie was kept on after that hammer blow, but poor results continued early into this season and he was replaced by ex-Dundee boss and Aberdeen assistant Tony Docherty. His tenure last only until December when a thumping 6-0 defeat here in Kirkcaldy led to his Dingwall departure, with Kettlewell returning to his former role weeks later. Two years ago, County beat Raith in the Premiership play-off final, but this time a defeat against Rovers would see the Staggies plummet to a level they have not been at for almost two decades Six league wins since January kept County on the tails of Airdrie and Morton in particular, while Queen’s Park and Ayr United broke free from the drop zone. County manager Stuart Kettlewell made just one change to his starting XI from Saturday’s rousing 4-0 victory against Morton as Levis came in for Alex Iacovitti. Dougie Imrie’s hosts were down in numbers due to injury and unavailability, so much so they had only four on the bench, none of whom were goalkeepers. County began on the front foot and Jordan White flashed an early header wide when meeting a Noah Chilvers corner. In response, a Josh Mullin free-kick almost picked out the in-rushing Paul Hanlon, but the ball spun out of play. County grabbed control of the match on 16 minutes when they took the lead. Chilvers swiped a free-kick into the box from out wide and Phillips got enough on it in a busy penalty box to head past goalkeeper Josh Rae for his sixth goal of the campaign. The situation at this point had County ninth in the live table, with no goals yet in Greenock. It was a toe-to-toe encounter, with Raith probing, but Ross County also looking alert on the move. A Mullin cross, after being set up by Lewis Vaughan, flew right across the box, but Innes Cameron’s effort was deflected for a corner as time was running out in the first half. Dylan Easton went close twice just before the interval for the Fifers, with one weaving run ending with a shot flashing wide then he was denied by Staggies goalkeeper Trevor Carson from 10 yards moments later. News came through early in the second period that Airdrie’s 1-0 lead at Morton had moved Kettlewell’s side to bottom spot. Rovers forward Cameron headed over the top, but it was County who needed to aim for more goals to offer them to the best chance of overtaking Ton or Airdrie on goal difference or goals scored. White offered some hope when he surged into the box, but fired high over the top, with little other options surrounding him, then Phillips’s header was saved by Rae. The leveller came on 76 minutes when Cameron’s cracking header from a Mullin cross, which put County back bottom. Their relegation was completely confirmed when Mullin again supplied the cross and Hamilton headed Raith in front. It was magic work from ex-County ace Mullin, but all the momentum was with Rovers and County knew their race was run, despite being on course for safety for much of the night. Carbon’s 10-yard finish in stoppage-time meant County would stay up with a winner but Mullin scored from the spot after Declan Gallagher felled Mullin. Both sets of players then clashed at the final whistle, with Kettlewell having to usher Akil Wright off the pitch, as he was shown a red card by referee Duncan Nicolson. It now promises to be a big summer of change, with Kettlewell’s future to be decided, although he has hinted at being open to talks. There will be plenty of movement, with the squad to be driven down and County needing to be ready to go for the League One title. It has been a stunning fall from the Staggies, despite winning two of their last three games, giving this final night chance.
Ross County
Manager	Stuart (Ketts) Kettlewell
Starting 11	30: Trevor Carson, 3: Len O'Sullivan, 4: Akil Wright 2 1, 5: Levis Pitan, 6: Connor Randall, 10: Noah Chilvers, 11: Kieran Phillips 1, 23: Ross Docherty, 26: Jordan White, 27: Ryan Duncan, 31: Declan Gallagher
Bench	21: Bradley Foster, 8: Dean Cornelius, 12: Jayden Carbon 1, 15: Dylan Smith, 24: Kaedyn Kamara, 38: Jamie Lindsay, 43: Josh Reid, 44: James Scott, 45: Calum Brown
Raith Rovers
Manager	Dougie Imrie
Starting 11	Josh Rae, Jai Rowe, Paul Hanlon, Josh Mullin 1 (1 pen), Lewis Stevenson, Ross Matthews 1, Dylan Easton, Lewis Vaughan, Paul Nsio, Jack Hamilton 1, Innes Cameron 1
Bench	Kai Montagu, Richard Chin, Andy Winter, Ewan Wilson