THAT WIN WAS FOR YOU BOSS
Bartley: Livi delivered perfect pick-me-up
Marvin Bartley insists Livingston prescribed the perfect tonic to stricken boss David Martindale by dumping ten-man Aberdeen.
The Lions No. 2 steered his side ten points clear of potential relegation trouble and heaped worries on beleaguered Dons.
It was the ideal pick-me-up for Martindale, hospitalised with kidney stones.
Bartley said: “I dedicate that win to Davie. It was for him, the boys, everyone at the club.
“It was quite shocking news for the players to hear he was in hospital on the bus on the way up but we weren’t going to use that as an excuse.
“The players had prepared well all week, knew what was expected of them and executed it perfectly.
“Davie has made about 105 calls over the day. My battery has actually drained because he was calling me that much.
“He was watching it on the stream – I hope he paid for it – so yeah we were in contact all day.”
The Dons threatened first with Jonny Hayes’ corner nodded down by Lewis Ferguson but eluded Ross McCrorie by inches.
Funso Ojo, David Bates and
Marley Watkins also went close as the Dons took control.
Livingston appealed for a penalty in the 24th minute when Andrew Shinnie went down under a nudge from Ojo but referee Grant Irvine waved them away.
The whistler was then at the centre of a more controversial moment as he booked Hayes for putting an arm in the face of
Adam Lewis but it appeared accidental and harsh in the extreme.
Bates was then relieved to see his attempted clearance held by keeper Joe Lewis after Joel Nouble had delivered from the left in another promising attack by the visitors.
Ojo was next into the book for a lunge on Nouble in 35 minutes as a bit of niggle had arrived into the game. The ref was again the focus f ive minutes from the break in an astonishing chain of events.
Lions keeper Max Stryjek gathered a high ball before running from his goal and shoving his palm into the face of Vincent Besuijen.
That sparked a brawl inside the box and Irvine booked both Stryjek and Besuijen after order was restored, but how the keeper avoided what was a clear red card remains a mystery.
Livi then edged ahead a minute later as Devlin slammed home a shot after the ball had rebounded off Lewis from Odin Bailey’s effort.
Stryjek superbly turned Jack MacKenzie’s shot past just after the restart as the Dons set about trying to rescue their situation.
The hosts were to dominate the ball and trigger a series of attacks, but they continued to lack that cutting edge as they struggled to harness the windy conditions.
Declan Gallagher, however, did go close with an acrobatic volley which flew inches over the top.
Referee Irvine was back in action in the 68th minute when he adjudged Ojo to have tripped Shinnie inside the box and Jason Holt fired home the penalty.
Then McCrorie picked up a second booking for a lunge on Holt and was sent packing before the Dons were awarded a penalty of their own seconds before the end.
Ayo Obileye pulled down Ferguson and the midfielder assumed responsibility to make no mistake from the spot, but it was all too little, too late.