Livingston more than happy to win ugly
● Guthrie accused of fouling to score but three points is all he cares about
Livingston cared little for rivals’ footballing gripes last term as they shrugged off criticism of their artificial pitch and digs about their fairly no-frills, industrious style.
Unperturbed as they defied odds and foes to finish fifth in the league, this season they have struggled to reap the same rewards. But, in their sixth match of the new campaign, Livingston finally found away to add three points to the tally and move off the foot of the table and, although there were protests from opponents over the way they were allowed to do it, the home ranks still did not give a jot.
“No, it wasn’t pretty but that doesn’t matter to us,” said Jon Guthrie, who headed home the only goal of the contest. “It doesn’t matter how you get the job done so long as you get the three points.”
They did it by coming through a pretty turgid game with one more player and one more goal than a Ross County side who were operating at the top end of the table.
Livingston had passed up a couple of golden opportunities to open the lead before Guthrie finally rose above everyone else in the 65 th minute to nod his downward header past Count y keeper Ross Laidlaw.
Scott Pittman will still be wincing at the memory of his seventh-minute close-range miss, after Nicky Devlin had made up ground down the right and played in an inviting cross. Then there was the Lars Lokotsch effort off the bar just before the interval.
When Livingston showed enough faith in each other to pass the ball about, switching sides and playing through the midfield, they were capable of fleeting glimpses of decent football. But the tempo was often too slow and when they did show some urgency, they were usually in a hurry to get the ball upfield, skelping it from one end to the other and trying to pile men onto apply pressure to a Highland defence who were frustrated figures by the end of play.
In spite of league positions, the West Lothian outfit were the better side. That advantage was magnified when Ross County’s Carl Tremarco got himself sent off for a second bookable offence, in the 51st minute.
“Getting that first win is important,” admitted Guthrie. “As the games start to go on, it does start to play on your mind a bit. We were confident going into the game and it was a really good performance. It did help that they went down to ten men but we are just really happy to get the three points.”
Visiting boss Stuart Kettlewell was highly critical of referee John Beaton, not for that sending off, but for the in consistency he says the official showed in dealing with situations.
His claim is that County’ s Ross Stewart was punished in the first half for trying to use an opponent as leverage but when Guthrie scored, similar behaviour went unchecked. The row that ensued between manager and referee at fulltime earned Kettlewell, inset, a red card. But informed that the Ross County manager had accused him of fouling, Guthrie was unfazed.
“Of course he did! I can’ t really remember ,” said Guthrie .“The ball came in and I was just doing what I could to get my head on the end of it. It’s a physical game and, especially when balls are coming into the box, you’ve got to use your body to get there. I’ll have to see it back but I don’t really care. The goal was given and a goal is a goal. So I’m happy.
“It doesn’t matter how you win or how many goals you win by, the three points is all that matters.
“We have been disappointed with our start to the season but you have to take a step back and remind yourself that we were only five games in. It is still very early and all it takes is a couple of wins to get going and if you can get a run together then you can very quickly fly up the league. We will be looking to build on this now.”
“Getting that first win is important. As the games start to go on, it does start to play on your mind a bit. It was a really good performance”
JON GUTHRIE