The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Raith buoyed by the joy of six
Opponents Cowdenbeath hungry to bounce back from Dundee defeat
Barry Smith’s fish supper on the way down the road from Buckie must have tasted great thanks to his team’s 6-1 win.
Now the Raith Rovers manager will be hoping Cowdenbeath will have had their chips by the time they leave Stark’s Park today.
Smith’s men headed north on Tuesday night to face Highland League champions Buckie Thistle in their third Betfred Cup Group C clash.
Raith had already lost to Dundee United and Dundee but Smith was quietly confident that a good win for his side was just around the corner.
The players certainly didn’t disappoint, hitting Thistle for six and setting themselves up to secure third spot in the group with a victory over the Blue Brazil in the Fife derby this afternoon.
Smith said: “The boys did very well up there and we enjoyed the long journey back down the road.
“All in all, it was a great result and performance and the boys deserved it.
“Now we go up against a Cowdenbeath side who will be desperate to bounce back after losing to Dundee.”
The good news for Rovers in general and Bobby Barr in particular is that the midfielder has recovered from injury.
Smith added: “Bobby is available to play. His injury is still a bit tender but he wants to get back into the squad.”
Cowdenbeath make the short trip to Kirkcaldy with manager Billy Brown looking for his men to continue their Betfred Cup resilience.
The Blue Brazil came from behind to defeat Buckie Thistle in their opening game and then held on strongly as Dundee United and then Dundee threatened to blow them away before going down to 4-1 and 3-0 defeats respectively.
Today a Fife derby with Raith Rovers completes their group fixtures.
Brown said: “It has been a tough week already for the boys to play the two Dundee teams back to back but looking at things positively the games have been a great help for us both in terms of building fitness and showing that there is a spirit in the team.
“It is hard to play full-time sides at this stage of the season, especially two in a row in a cup competition, but our players have shown up well and showed a lot of resilience.”
Despite nothing being at stake, Brown is looking forward to visiting one of his former clubs.
He added: “Raith are a club that I played with for five years.
“They had a terrific result in midweek when they beat Buckie 6-1 so it will be another tough game for us.”
Jack Whittaker again misses out with a broken foot.