Raith Rovers drawn against Cove Rangers as they start defence of SPFL Trust Trophy

Raith Rovers' Kyle Connell holding off Cove Rangers' Mark Reynolds during his side's 2-0 Scottish Championship defeat at Balmoral Park in Aberdeen in July (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group)

Raith Rovers have been drawn against Scottish Championship rivals Cove Rangers as they begin their defence of the SPFL Trust Trophy they won against Queen of the South in April.

The draw for the third round of the trophy took place on Monday, and it will see the Kirkcaldy side hitting the road to Aberdeen to play Cove on Saturday, September 24, or Sunday, September 25, as they look to keep hold of that prize, otherwise known as the Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup for the third year on the trot.

Raith, managed by current Falkirk boss John McGlynn at the time, beat then fellow championship outfit Queen of the South 3-1 at Airdrie’s Excelsior Stadium to claim the trophy outright for the first time since 2014 and second time ever, having been awarded it jointly, in its Tunnock's Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup guise, with Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2020 due to that year’s final, along with the whole competition the year after, being cancelled because of coronavirus restrictions.

Slovenian striker Matej Poplatnik, on loan from Livingston, put Rovers ahead 16 minutes into April’s final but Ally Roy got an equaliser for their Dumfries opposition in first-half stoppage time.

David McKay, Aidan Connolly, Tom Lang and Dario Zannatta with the SPFL Trust Trophy won by Raith Rovers in Airdrie in April (Photo by Paul Devlin/SNS Group)

Poplatnik made it 2-1 for Rovers 20 minutes from time and Ethan Ross added a third with 12 minutes to go to ensure victory.

The Fifers have only beaten Cove once in the four competitive games they’ve played, all of them away, and that was by 2-1 in the league cup in July 2016.

Since then, they’ve lost 2-0 and 3-0 in the same competition in July 2018 and July 2019 respectively and 2-0 in the league, under current boss Ian Murray, at the end of July.

Their cup tie against last year’s League 1 champions, managed by Jim McIntyre, will be one of two meetings in as many weeks as they’re due to host them at Stark’s Park for a league fixture on Saturday, October 8. That will be their first-ever competitive fixture at home to Cove as they’ve only ever come up against them on the road previously.

The other 15 round-three ties to be played next month include a trip to Arbroath for East Fife.

The rest of the draw, made at Firhill Stadium in Glasgow, comprises Buckie Thistle v Linfield, Cliftonville v Queen’s Park, the New Saints v Dundee, Clyde v Caernarfon Town, Peterhead v Elgin City, Falkirk v Partick Thistle, Dunfermline Athletic v Celtic B, Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Brechin City, Morton v Ayr United, Montrose v Kilmarnock B, Alloa Athletic v Airdrieonians, Queen of the South v FC Edinburgh, Annan Athletic v Kelty Hearts and Rangers B v Hamilton Academical.