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A strangely unconvincing 5 - 2 win. We were slow out the blocks and took a long time to settle. The surface was poor which could be an excuse for some of the misplaced passes but some of the players still look like they need to blow the cobwebs away as there was some sloppy passages of play and a few defensive errors that fortunately weren't punished. All too often the final ball or cross was played behind a team mate or didn't get past the opposition player so it was perhaps not surprise when Cowdenbeath took the lead when Sheerin crashed a fine effort in from the edge of the area. Missed our equaliser as I had to help @alternative maryhill with directions to the pie shop but Walsh got his first competitive goal for the club and then bagged his second when he collected the ball inside the home half and head goalwards before sending a low drive in off the post. A fortunate but welcome lead. We were even more fortunate with our third when a suspiciously offside looking White won a high ball knocking down for Doran and he was able to steer the ball past McGurn. Into the second half and Doran was in the thick of the action again. Heading towards the left hand post he tangled with a home player and went down but the referee waved play on. We added a fourth after McGurn did well to keep out a White effort from only a few yards out but before he could recover Oakley lashed in a fine strike. Not so fine was the 5th goal which again looked like it might have been offside. Trafford hit a low drive from outside the box and it hit Doran who was trudging back out from the previous attack. With McGurn committed to his right the ball then went to his left with the deflection and ICT somehow found themselves 5 - 1 up. Cowdenbeath netted a consolation when Sheerin nabbed his second from close range after Mckay (I think) got into a bit of a mess trying to defend a loose ball. It was almost 5 - 3 when the home side saw their final shot of the game cleared by Tremarco. As I say above the scoreline looks good but it wasn't a great performance by any means. That said, Walsh looked impressive particularly when he appeared through the middle but too often he was stuck wide right. Austin had a very quiet game, very little came off for him so it wasn't much of a shock when he was subbed. Donaldson and Tremarco looked solid enough at the back but Mckay struggled under pressure and Rooney regressed as the game went on. A few days rest now for the players which is probably coming at a good time ahead of the next competitive match against Raith.

There were times, quite a few of them, where Jake could have done with being a bit more professional himself.

It's only the second game of the season FFS and effectively still pre season. As long as we win, surely that is the most important thing.

I have reviewed the activity of all moderators and based entirely on that activity I have reduced this count from 10 to 5 : Moderators are now Mantis, Gringo, RiG, YngWie, and Kingsmills, all of whom, are and have been active in the moderator discussions and/or in actively moderating the site. TM4TJ and myself remain as Admins.

He needs to be taken into the manager's office first thing in the morning and told that that sort of conduct will not be tolerated. We paid heavily for poor discipline last season and can't afford to again. An apology to Brora, his victim and his own team mates would not go amiss either.

Not only did the third look offside, there appeared to be a handball too as Doran took it under control. The first was an absolute beauty, as it came at the end of a decent move. White appeared to nod it down to Walsh and he curled it in from the edge of the box. Impressed by Jordan White. Very powerful player, great hold-up work and yet a fair bit of skill too. Better version of George if you ask me. Austin does the other part of the game but not sure he's going to give us 20 a season.

I wasn't aware that Daniel McKay had been away.

We have been very fortunate with the way these group fixtures have panned out. Playing weak Highland League teams with split squads may have engendered a certain level of fitness but was never an adequate pre season for the competitive season ahead. Thanks to the SPFL fixture computer we have now been able to step up by playing a much better Highland League team with a full squad and to step up again by playing a league side. Maybe something we should bear in mind for pre season next season when the fixture fairy might not be so kind to us again.

I think football just found a new hero in Kylian Mbappe though .... not only was he very good, but he's just donated all his world cup earnings to charity. https://mashable.com/2018/07/16/kylian-mbappe-world-cup-charity-donation/#TV_Yl8c4bSqW

An away win by three clear goals is a good result whatever the status of the opposition or stage of the season. An encouraging start.

Great stuff. Tom Walsh sounds like he could be a very exciting player for us. Robbo is a canny operator in the transfer market, slowly piecing together a solid side ?

Compared with last year ? It is pre-season. Winning becomes a mentality FFS.

Sorry but losing 2 goals and almost a third to Cowdenbeath is very worrying when we are wanting to be promotion candidates. Sorry if that earns some down votes but we need better.