Out of touch out of luck

Goodwin laments poor defending but also felt his side didn’t get the rub of the green in Livi defeat

It just wasn’t St Mirren’s day on Saturday.

The Buddies crashed to a 2- 1 defeat at Livingston and gaffer Jim Goodwin couldn’t believe their luck – or lack of it.

Skipper Kyle Magennis superbly fired the Saints back to within one from the edge of the area after two uncharacteristic defensive blunders had left the away side 2-0 down at the Toni Macaroni Arena.

Goodwin’s side finished strongly but couldn’t find the leveller they desperately craved.

“Every little decision went against us and every break of the ball went against us – it was just one of those afternoons,” lamented the Saints manager.

“We don’t want to get too down about it. Of course we are disappointed when we lose but I think we have to try and take the positives from the second half and take that into Ross County in a couple of weeks.”

Goodwin added: “Livingston are very good at defending the goal.

“They put their bodies on the line and get a lot of people in the way of the ball. So, they deserve credit for that but we have just got to find a way to break them down.

“I believe in the quality we have at the top end of the pitch and I think they’ve got the freedom to try things and to do things off the cuff but unfortunately nothing really fell for us.”

Saints were a goal down at the break after Alan Lithgow stood unmarked in the six-yard box to head home a corner. Despite the visitors flying out the blocks in the second period, they found themselves two down after being suckered on the counter by former Queen of the South striker Lyndon Dykes.

The visitors rallied and got back into it through Magennis but the damage was done.

“I always felt we’d have more of the ball here because of the way Livingston set up,” continued Goodwin.

“They drop off and get bodies behind the ball and allow you to have possession in the middle of the pitch.

“We were comfortable in possession but never moved it from side to side quick enough to allow those gaps to appear. We couldn’t get (Kyle) McAllister, Magennis and (Tony) Andreu on the ball in the first half and that was our main downfall.

“But it gets back to the goals which are so poor. We should deal with both goals a lot better but unfortunately we weren’t able to do that.”

The Paisley club have no fixture this weekend due to the international break but the manager was keen to remind fans his side won’t be slacking off at Ralston.

“The boys will get an extra day off this week. That’s just the norm during the international break but we will be working hard as we always do and prepare properly for another difficult test up at Dingwall.”

It gets back to the goals which are so poor. We should deal with both goals a lot better but unfortunately we weren’t able to do that Jim Goodwin