RIGHT, LEFT & A NOD TO PERFECTION

Dykes: First hat-trick will Liv with me forever

Lyndon Dykes fired the perfect hat- trick to help sink Ross County but admitted he was far from flawless.

Ricki Lamie set Livi on their way to a rout of the bug-hit Dingwall side before striker Dykes took centre stage.

And he says he will never forget his f irst- ever treble, which sent Gary Holt’s side above County and Hibs into the top six.

He said: “I’ll remember this hat-trick for the rest of my life, it’s my first and it was a perfect hat-trick – right foot, left foot and a header.

“I hope they keep coming as we need to keep it going.

“We’re happy with the points but we were a bit sloppy and know we can do better.

“We should be pushing for the top six.”

Livi should have got off to a f lier but Jon Guthrie’s early fresh air shot let County off the hook.

Scott Pittman saw a curling 20-yarder turned round the post by Nathan Baxter.

The keeper was being kept busy but he was finally beaten on the half-hour mark as Lamie lashed home from close range.

Dykes made the most of Livi’s dominance five minutes before the break. He controlled a pass from Stevie Lawless to fire home a fierce low shot.

It was to get worse for the Staggies seconds after the restart. Pittman did the spadework as he slid a ball across goal to Dykes to apply another clinical finish.

County just couldn’t contain Livi’s attacking threats and Pittman and Lawson went close before Dykes struck again in the 73rd minute.

This time he rose to bullet home a header from Marvin Bartley’s superb cross to complete his perfect hat-trick.

Billy McKay’s weak header was as close as County came to anything resembling an effort on target.

But Holt revealed he and his side weren’t totally happy with their win.

He said: “You win, clean sheet, three points and four good goals but performancewise I thought we were off it in the first half. The players came in at half-time 2- 0 up and give you the info they’re not happy.

“You fine tune it and put a rocket up one or two who can take it and will drive the team on and I thought we got that and could have scored more.”

On Dykes, he added: “I’ve seen Lyndon progress.

“He said he couldn’t header a ball but that’s two headers he’s scored in three games so he’s doing something right.”