Blue Brazil head North.

Cowdenbeath are the visitors to the Caledonian Stadium on Tuesday 13th October as we play our second League Cup game which will also be a closed doors encounter. Don't forget, this game is an early kick-off at 6:30pm. Both sides sit at the bottom of of their group table with zero points. Hearts are at home to Raith Rovers later tonight with a 7:45pm kick-off.

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Streaming Statement from ICTFC

In conjunction with our new streaming partners and the SPFL, tonight will see our last full test of this new technology at the Caledonian Stadium and we had planned to make the game available for free but we have subsequently been told that this would be a breach of the competition rules.

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Our opener at Tynecastle saw a relatively inexperienced squad go down 1-0 to Championship favourites Hearts. The game was decided through a dubious penalty decision gifted by Steven Maclean. A lot may have changed since covid19 entered our lives, but the standard of officiating in Scotland is still the same. Absolutely gross! A driven ball back into the box by Josh Ginnelly was adjudged to have been handled by the unfortunate Cameron Harper, despite his best efforts to keep his arms close to his body. Overall though, Hearts just edged the game although we had a couple of great opportunities to score, notably Nikolay Todorov near the end when he volleyed wide. Craig Gordon had denied Daniel Mackay in the fifth minute with a stunning point blank save from a header. Despite losing, the young Caley Jags side gave a good account of themselves considering we were without six regulars. One negative from the game was Shane Sutherland appearing to have done his hamstring just before half time.

We had no game on Saturday as Raith Rovers entered the competition, beating East Fife 2-1 thanks to a late goal from Manny Duku. Liam Newton had given East Fife the lead but a penalty by Regan Hendry just on the break levelled matters before the 87th minute winner. Scenes!

Like us, The Blue Brazil lost their opening fixture, going down 2-0 away to East Fife. Second half goals from Jack Hamilton and Ryan Wallace were the difference on the artificial surface at Bayview. Cowdenbeath had chances early in the game but East Fife gradually got on top in the second period. The first goal may have been fortuitous, but the second was a screamer from the right foot of Wallace on the volley, lashed into the top corner from the edge of the box.

On Saturday, Cowdenbeath made Hearts work hard for the win before Craig Halkett headed home in the 77th minute. Beath keeper Ross Sinclair made a superb penalty save after 90 minutes to deny Jamie Walker from the spot. I'm sure we will also find the miners a difficult proposition on Tuesday night.

Screamer from Wallace....

***LATEST NEWS***

As we continue to build towards our Championship opener on 17th October it's encouraging to see that Danny Devine should be ready for Championship day one against Dunfermline. Whether John Robertson risks him tonight remains to be seen. Wallace Duffy and James Vincent are good to go as well but Shane Sutherland misses out. David Carson, Aaron Doran, Kevin McHattie and Lewis Toshney are still under wraps I presume???  Kai Kennedy is unable to make his debut as expected tonight because he has had to go into self isolation after Billy Stark tested positive for covid19. This caused the abrupt ending of the Scotland u19 international against England where Kai started the game. The match was halted before the interval and the subsequent encounter canceled.

Sean Welsh will continue as club captain, let's hope he steers clear of injury this season and leads the team on the park.