Stewart centre stage as Killie get top billing
WITH panto season in full swing, Kilmarnock won’t need any telling just where Celtic are when the teams meet in Glasgow on Saturday.
They’re behind you. Right behind you, as it happens. One point separates the teams in what is now a tasty top-of-the-table clash in the Premiership.
But will Steve Clarke’s men care about that? Not a chance. And nor should they. They’re top of the league and loving every minute of it.
Clarke’s side continue to motor in mighty fine style, cruising to victory against Livingston last night courtesy of a first-half double from in-form Greg Stewart.
The on-loan Birmingham City man fired his sixth and seventh goals of the season and is looking like a more astute signing with each passing week.
Killie are unlikely to hold any fears over their visit to Parkhead, having defeated the reigning champions 2-1 in Ayrshire back in September.
Celtic are, admittedly, a different beast now than they were back then. But there is a lot to admire in this Killie side.
Clarke wouldn’t entertain any ‘false nines’, nor any other hipster notions for that matter. He puts round pegs in round holes and continues to reap the benefits.
This victory also brought with it the landmark of Clarke now having beaten each and every team he has faced, at least once, since taking charge last October.
From their position at the top of the pile, they can now enjoy the feeling of looking down upon the rest, however long it lasts.
There was a warm reception for Livingston manager Gary Holt prior to kick-off. Holt is a boyhood Killie fan, something he has tattooed on his left calf in the form of the club badge, and was a key part of the Ayrshire side’s Scottish Cup-winning team of 1997.
But that was where the niceties ended, with the current Kilmarnock vintage wasting no time in setting about a Livvy team who welcomed back striker Dolly Menga from his two-game ban for a headbutt on Celtic’s Ryan Christie.
There were just three minutes on the clock when Greg Taylor surged forward from left-back. Declan Gallagher, Livvy’s right-sided centre-half, came out to meet him, but his intervention led to the concession of an early corner.
Chris Burke’s delivery was right on the money, dipping and swerving in towards the edge of the six-yard box, allowing Stewart to nip in and glance a terrific header into the far corner.
The home side could hardly have looked more confident if they had swaggered on to the Rugby Park pitch wearing Stetsons, chaps and spurs.
There was only one gunslinger in Ayrshire last night, though, and Stewart fired his team further ahead in the 21st minute.
From Livingston’s point of view, it was a horrendously soft goal to concede, Alan Power’s long ball over the top splitting them wide open.
Stewart was on to it in a flash. Jinking his way past a couple of defenders, he cut in from the left and planted a composed finish into the far corner beyond Liam Kelly.
The problem for Livingston was obvious. Normally so resolute on their day, they now found themselves chasing the game after barely 20 minutes.
They never really looked like they had the quality in attack to claw back the two-goal deficit. Menga flickered into life with the odd snap-shot, but Daniel Bachmann in the Killie goal was never seriously troubled.
It didn’t help their cause that they were trying to penetrate a defence which had kept three clean sheets on the bounce heading into this match. A fourth was secured with consummate ease.
A hush fell over Rugby Park in the opening stages of the second half when Killie defender Kirk Broadfoot inadvertently collided with his own goalkeeper.
Sensing that his team-mate might have been knocked out cold, Bachmann immediately placed Broadfoot into the recovery position.
He left the field on a stretcher after receiving treatment, although, thankfully, the veteran defender looked a good deal perkier by that point.
Livingston’s trio of centre-halves — Gallagher, Craig Halkett and Alan Lithgow — have generally given opposition strikers as much chance this season as Ebenezer Scrooge would give a group of carol singers.
But they simply couldn’t deal with Stewart and the equally impressive Eamonn Brophy last night, the pair continuing to torment the visitors in the second half.
There were, mercifully, no issues with the floodlights at Rugby Park after the debacle against Hibernian last weekend.
Kilmarnock’s main Power came from Alan of that ilk, a dynamic force in central midfield along with Gary Dicker.
The second half largely fizzled out. Kilmarnock had their foot on the throat of Livingston and had no intention of removing it.
Jordan Jones went close with a jinking run down the left, before cutting inside on his right foot and bending the ball just beyond Kelly’s far post.
Holt’s men, for their part, battled away manfully but just couldn’t create anything of note. Steven Lawless looked sharp enough throughout, though didn’t see enough of the ball to make a telling contribution.
Kilmarnock will travel to Celtic Park on Saturday with every right to feel confident about themselves.
In Stewart and Brophy, they have a couple of strikers who are bang in form and keeping veteran Kris Boyd sat on his backside on the bench.
Following the game against the champions, they have a somewhat favourable run of games against Dundee, Hamilton, Motherwell and St Mirren before the winter shutdown.
Eminently winnable games, on this evidence. The sky is the limit for Clarke and his players.
KILMARNOCK (4-4-1-1): Bachmann 7; O’Donnell 7, Broadfoot 7 (Tshibola 51), S Boyd 7, Taylor 7; Burke 7, Dicker 7, Power 7, Jones 7; Stewart 8 (Ndjoli 86); Brophy 7 (Wilson 67). Subs not used: MacDonald, McKenzie, K Boyd, Waters. Booked: None. LIVINGSTON (3-5-2): Kelly 6; Gallagher 5, Halkett 5, Lithgow 5; Lamie 6, Cadden 5 (Hardie 63), Lawson 5 (Sibbald 39), Byrne 5, Pittman 5; Lawless 6, Menga 5 (Burns 72). Subs not used: Stewart, Jacobs, McMillan, Hamilton. Booked: Byrne, Pittman. Referee: Bobby Madden. Attendance: 4,143. Man of the Match: Greg Stewart.