Holt: Point gained but ref should’ve stopped it
Gary Holt watched his Livingston side blow a two- goal lead – then admitted he’d have signed off on the match being abandoned.
St Mirren came from 3-1 down early in the second half courtesy of two goals from Jon Obika after a double from Aymen Souda had appeared to swing the advantage in favour of Holt’s men.
However, almost all the goals owed something to the atrocious conditions as players misjudged the f light of the ball and left themselves looking foolish.
The relegation battlers still served up entertainment of sorts, although a point helped neither side as they bid for breathing space near the bottom of the table.
You wouldn’t have put milk bottles out in the rain and biting winds that swirled around New St Mirren Park. Holt though was happy to take something back along the M8 and said: “It’s a point gained because the conditions would get the game stopped – it was brutal.
“It had a hand in goals for both teams. The pitch was fine – we always talk about if it’s playable but we also need to look at the weather conditions.
“Our centre-backs were going for a ball and it was heading over them then the next time it would fall 20 yards in front.
“I’m sure it was entertaining for the neutral – six goals and plenty of chances – but you want a game of footbal l
and this one was more about mistakes. It was horrible. If the ref had come over to stop the game I wouldn’t have complained.
“I was hoping it wasn’t going to be a mistake costing either side the match.
“You look at the goals and we have to defend them better but the conditions were terrible and it had an impact on the game.
“You have to credit St Mirren for coming back into it.”
Souda handed Livi the lead after only 10 minutes of a first half in which the away side looked more lively with the wind behind their backs.
He robbed Ryan
Flynn on the right and curled a low, left foot shot beyond Vaclav
Hladky from 20 yards.
The Czech keeper, a target for Houston
Dynamo, kept his side in the game with a stunning fingertip stop soon after to deny a header from Lyndon Dykes.
Saints took heart from that and equalised in 33 minutes when Obika seized hesitancy by Ricki Lamie and crossed for Junior Morais to slot in.
However, Obika was at fault on the stroke of half-time when he lost Jon Guthrie in the box and the defender rose to power Craig Sibbald’s free-kick into the net from six yards.
Souda scored his second in 56 minutes when he slammed in a 16-yard volley after more uncertainty in the Saints defence.
However, Jim Goodwin’s side showed thei r bottle for the battle ahead with a goal four minutes later. A corner on the right broke to sub Tony Andreu and his cross from the right side of the box was knocked into the net from close range by Obika.
Andreu was also involved in the equaliser in 73 minutes, running in behind Alan Lithgow before pulling the ball back for Obika to loop a shot over Matija Sarkic from 10 yards with the help of a wicked deflection.
Livi came back into the match towards the end but sub Scott Robinson’s outrageous dive in the box under no contact from Calum Waters rightfully earned the wrath of ref Nick Walsh, who flashed a yellow.
Even Holt admitted the appeal for a penalty was ambitious but he confessed he was never comfortable in the game, even with a twogoal advantage.
Goals of course win games and there was a solid case to be made for Aymen Souda given his vital contribution in that regard.
But Obika created the first for Saints before netting his second-half brace and so deserves the award. Great overall performance. 8/10
It wasn’t the easiest game as conditions made it tough but he controlled it with a firm authority and was always well placed to make the big calls. 7/10