The KDM Evolution Trophy Final: Raith Rovers v Inverness CT - The Preview

Raith Rovers v Inverness CT: The KDM Evolution Trophy Final

What's at stake?

The second piece of silverware in the Scottish Football Season is up for grabs on Sunday afternoon as William Hill Championship's Raith Rovers face Inverness Caledonian Thistle, of William Hill League One, for the right to lift the KDM Evolution Trophy as winners of the new look tournament.

It is a repeat of the final that never was as both Raith Rovers and Inverness made it to the 2020 final, then known as the Tunnock's Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the national lockdown that followed, the cup final never actually took place and both teams ended up sharing the trophy as they were named joint winners in April 2021.

This time around it's very much game on as both teams will be looking to win the trophy outright and there's a chance to make history on Sunday as whoever lifts the cup come full-time will win the competition for a fourth time and will join Falkirk as joint record Champions.

Not only is the trophy up for grabs but at in May last year the SPFL announced the competition winners will receive a record prize sum of £150,000. For Sunday's runners-up there is the consolidation prize of £100,000 and, to put that in perspective, means whoever finishes runners-up will recieve the same prize money that Manchester City were awarded when they won the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal last month.

So the trophy, the joint record and a record prize fee is all at stake at Firhill on Sunday.

But what of the teams and how they are feeling and what their form is like heading into Sunday's match? We have listed it all here, along with our picks of the standout players to watch from both sides.

Raith Rovers

Route to the final

As a Championship side, Dougie Imrie's Rovers' entered the competition in Round Two where they faced League One's Hamilton Academical at Stark's Park. Darragh O'Connor got things going for the Rovers on the night but it was in the second half when they really took control of the tie as Rovers captain Scott Brown, with one of his specialist long distance strikes, and a hat-trick from right-back Jai Rowe eventually secured the Rovers passage into the third round.

Into round three and it was another home tie and it was another tie against League One opposition as they hosted Queen of the South, but unlike in Round Two, the Rovers were pushed all the way by Peter Murphy's side and in the end Dylan Easton's first-half penalty was enough to see them progress narrowly into the quarter-finals.

They then visited fellow Championship side Queen's Park at the City Stadium where Paul Nsio put them ahead in dominant first-half but were made to pay for a number of missed chances to extend their lead as Josh Fowler equalised for the Spiders and they were taken to penalty kicks. Things didn't get off to the best of starts when Scott Brown missed their first spot kick but Rovers number one Josh Rae saved three penalties in the shootout as they won 3-1 on penalties and secured a semi-final meeting against Airdrieonians.

🎉Raith Rovers a' buannachadh breaban-peanais! Tha iad tro dhan Cuairt dheireanaich de Chupa Dùbhlain!

Raith win on penalties and will face Inverness CT in the Challenge Cup final! pic.twitter.com/1zodG9jM6O

— BBC ALBA (@bbcalba) February 25, 2026

Since the Diamonds promotion to the Championship, Airdrieonians have been the Rovers bogey side with only one win in eleven meetings in all competitions. Things however looked like things were finally turning in the Rovers favour against the Diamonds when Dylan Easton put them ahead with a stunner but were ultimately taken to penalties when Jake Hastie scored an 88th minute equaliser. Just like the quarter-final, Josh Rae would be the hero once again as the goalkeeper saved Lewis McGrattan spot kick whilst the Rovers despatched their five kicks perfectly which sealed their place in Sunday's final.

Recent Form

After the semi-final victory over Airdrieonians; the Rovers form in the Championship was faltering as they lost to bottom side Ross County 2-0 in Dingwall and then losing the last Fife Derby of the season against Dunfermline Athletic which seen the Rovers fall to eighth place in the Championship table.

But thankfully for the Rovers they were back to home comforts but have had to deal with three games in the space of six days. First up was Airdrieonians at Stark's Park and the Rovers ended up winning 3-1, with substitute Kai Montagu scoring a first senior brace at SPFL level, and put in one of their best performances of the season. They followed the match up with another impressive performance but ultimately ended up on the losing side against second place Partick Thistle.

On the Friday Night Football the Rovers needed a win to boost their chances of Championship survival and push them up the table, on the hunt of an unlikely push for a promotion playoff place. Against an out-of-form Ayr United, the Rovers put in another excellent performance as they comfortable swept aside the Honest Men 3-0, with on-loan Barrow striker Innes Cameron scoring a brace and substitute Richard Chin finishing a fine move.

Ultimately Dougie Imrie's side have finally found the form and consistency they have been after all season and all coming at the right time ahead of the cup final.

Players to Watch

Innes Cameron comes into Sunday's final as a striker in-form. After bedding his time since his loan arrival in January, the striker has been a key part of the Rovers last number of matches, scoring three goals in three games and providing everything that Dougie Imrie has been looking for in his striker after the injury to Jack Hamilton.

Dylan Easton is always the danger man and a creative input in the Rovers machine and despite not being his flowing best this season you can still never take your eyes off the midfielder. Lewis Vaughan as well is also one to keep an eye on, if you are a Caley player, but it would be interesting to see whether or not he starts on Sunday after the recent impressive form of Kai Montagu.

Another impressive key player of late for the Rovers has been their on-loan Rangers midfielder Paul Nsio, the 20-year-old had to slowly bed his way into the starting lineup but has been one of the brightest players in the squad over the course of the whole season. Nsio has taken his place in the starting XI of late, after recent injuries to Scott Brown and Shaun Byrne, and he has taken full advantage of his chance.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Route to the final

With the new rules and new format of the KDM Evolution Trophy, Inverness entered the competition in Round One's league phase where they were drawn to face against Aberdeen B, Dundee B, Dundee United B, Elgin City, Forfar Athletic and Stirling Albion. The league phase was no problems for Scott Kellacher's side as they won all six league phase matches and finishing top of the 30 team table.

In Round Two they were drawn away to League Two's Dumbarton, which could have been a tricky test on a cold night on a bumpy pitch, however Thistle were more than convincing as they swept the Sons aside winning 9-0, with striker Alfie Bavidge scoring four goals in the first-half in which Caley were 7-0 ahead at half-time.

A tricky test in Round Three seen Inverness travel away to William Hill Championship high flyers Partick Thistle at Firhill, the venue of choice for Sunday's final, an entertaining match seen Inverness go into half-time with a 2-1 lead but Mark Wilson's side eventually led 3-2 heading into the closing minutes. Thankfully for Caley they had Billy McKay to thank as they seen the game through to penalties where they won 4-2.

Inverness' reward for reaching Round Four was a home tie against their League One title contenders Stenhousemuir. Both previous league meetings had been won by Gary Naysmith's side, including a 2-1 win over Caley in Inverness back in August, but Alfie Bavidge made sure that they would finally defeat Stenny for the first time this season. A good omen perhaps for their League One title push.

Tadhal do Inverness CT! Jordan Alonge a bh’ann!

Goal for Inverness CT! By Jordan Alonge!

1-2, Ayr United v Inverness CT.⚽⬇️ pic.twitter.com/bRj7vvxxRr

— BBC ALBA (@bbcalba) February 24, 2026

Their semi-final was against Championship side Ayr United at Somerset Park and it proved to be an entertaining match which seen Caley take the lead through Jordan Alonge but were pegged back by the Honest Men, just moments later when George Finney equalised for Scott Brown's side. But Alonge would prove to be the hero of the day for Inverness as he scored a late winner which officially secured their place in Sunday's final.

Recent Form

Unlike their Championship opponents, Inverness have been unbeaten since securing their place in the final, but have proved to be somewhat inconstant which has seen their League One title push somewhat faltering. A 0-0 draw with Kelty Hearts was their first result after the victory at Somerset Park, not bad but against the league's bottom side Caley probably would have been expecting better.

They got back to winning ways the next weekend, after defeating Montrose late on in the Highlands with a 3-1 final score. And they were closing in on back-to-back home wins against relegation strugglers Cove Rangers but dramatically in the 94th minute conceded when Cove's goalkeeper Balint Demus came up for a corner kick and managed to score past Ross Munro.

Another 3-1 home followed against Peterhead, with Chanka Zimba scoring a brace against the Blue Toon. But they had to settle for a point away at promotion playoff chasing Alloa Athletic after Zimba was sent off with 20 minutes on the clock. And their last match, before Sunday's final was against another promotion playoff chasing side Queen of the South and they had to settle for a point after Ross Millen scored, just after seeing his penalty saved by Queens keeper Ross Stewart.

Whatever happens on Sunday, their minds will be fully focused on what could be the biggest match in the League One season to date as Inverness travel to Ochilview to take on second place Stenhousemuir. But they could be in second place come the match up with Gary Naysmith's side if Stenny win their home game against Hamilton Academical on Saturday.

Players to Watch

After his brace against Ayr United in the semi-final, we have identified Jordan Alonge as being one to watch on Sunday. The midfielder has been impressing Caley ever since he broke into their starting XI after signing from Highland League side Forres Mechanics last summer, The midfielder has scored 4 goals in 21 League One matches this season.

Chanka Zimba is also one to watch after making his international debut in midweek, the 24 year-old signed from National League North side Marine in the summer and got his first cap for Zambia against the current World Cup champions Argentina in a 5-0 defeat for the Chipolopolo. The striker has scored 10 goals in 28 matches for Scott Kellacher's side this season.

Aberdeen loanees Alfie Bavidge and Alfie Stewart have been impressive in League One this season, the duo joined the club last season in the January window and were brought again in the summer for their League One title push and have been in excellent form. Stewart has five goals and 7 assists from central midfield in League One and Scotland U19 striker Bavidge has also scored 10 goals in the league. Both will be good pickups for someone as Aberdeen will be releasing both youngsters come the end of the season.

Almost Time

Two teams from different divisions but both are full-time and both have got strong capable squads of able to win the match on Sunday.

In terms of previous meetings, Raith Rovers came out 5-1 winners back in July during the Premier Sports Cup group stages but both teams have changed a lot since that meeting. The Rovers have got a good record in recent years against Caley, currently on a run of four wins in their last five meetings but Inverness did have a long unbeaten record against the men from Kirkcaldy which stretched back 23 matches going from 2001 all the way to 2021. And in a one of match, anything can and probably will happen.

The time for talking is almost done and soon it will be time for action.

A final that has been six years in the making and everything is set and ready to go. For Raith Rovers and Inverness Caledonian Thistle they are only one game away from winning the record prize money and bringing the trophy home on the team bus homewards.

May the best team win on the day!

Match Details

Raith Rovers v Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Kick-Off Time: 16:10

Where to Watch: BBC ALBA / BBC iPlayer

Venue: Firhill Stadium, Glasgow

Referee: Ryan Lee