Longridge has the last word in thrilling finale

LIVINGSTON

Longridge 90

MORTON

Oliver 88

1

Livingston and Morton served up a breathless finale in West Lothian but, ultimately, the real winners were in Paisley.

The Greenock side looked to have snatched a laudable victory, having taken full advantage of a second-half red card to Shaun Byrne to claim a late lead through Gary Oliver.

However, David Hopkin’s side simply do not know when they are beaten and the ten men levelled thanks to a deflected drive by Jackson Longridge, extending their fine recent sequence to seven games without defeat.

Nevertheless, they are now ten points adrift of Championship leaders St Mirren.

Livingston had not played a competitive match in a fortnight and their opponents on that occasion were also Morton, with a Nicky Cadden thunderbolt securing a 1-0 victory in Greenock. Seeking to make amends for that reverse, Morton started well, with the waspish Oliver cutting in from the left flank and stinging the palms of Neil Alexander in the home side’s goal.

But it was Livingston who thought they had broken the deadlock midway through the first half.

A low shot from the edge of the box by Jordan Thompson forced a fine low save from Derek Gaston, only for Lee Miller to tap home the rebound. However, the celebrations were cut short by the flag of assistant referee Graeme Leslie.

Josh Mullin had a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock as half-time approached. He surged into the box and toe-poked an instinctive effort towards goal, only for Gaston to pull off a magnificent save with his feet.

Livingston’s hopes were dented when referee Aitken dismissed Byrne for a second bookable offence in the space of five minutes, having tripped Gary Harkins.

And Morton took full advantage after 88 minutes, with Oliver reacting quickest to a loose ball inside the box and scrambling the ball beyond his former Hearts team-mate Alexander from point-blank range.

However, there was more late drama to come in injury time when a speculative drive from substitute Longridge took a kind deflection and finally found a way past Gaston.