Livingston's Scott Robinson, left, celebrates with Marvin Bartley at full-time.
LIVINGSTON 1
Robinson 10
ST MIRREN 0
With Livingston making heavy weather of seeing out the five minutes added on by referee David Munro, manager David Martindale turned to his coaches and substitutes gathered behind him, and shouted: “It feels like fifty!”
It says everything about the manager that he was afterwards able to reference his lengthy spell in prison when recalling this sensation of time dragging on as Livingston sought to preserve their 10th minute lead and secure a place in next month’s Betfred Cup final against St Johnstone.
“That was the longest five minutes of my life - and I’ve been in some sticky situations!” he said. “That tells you everything.”
Everything is out there with Martindale. Everything is on the table. He has clearly figured that everyone already knows about the lengthy prison sentence for drugs and money-laundering offences so there is no point pretending it did not happen. In any case, it will be discussed again soon enough – with potentially serious repercussions for him.
This was a timely victory for all sorts of reasons but primarily because the man at the heart of it doesn’t yet know if he will be permitted to sit in the dug-out in the final. A win here helps underline his credentials as a football manager if they were not already plain to see.
However, he does not expect masterminding Livingston to a second major final in their relatively short history to feature in the imminent debate about whether he is a fit and proper person to lead a football team – even if inspiring a group of footballers to be more than the sum of their parts seems precisely the sort of detail that should be relevant in such discussions.
It’s difficult to describe Martindale’s life as a fairytale given he has served four years in jail. However, his nascent managerial career certainly seems blessed by most of his peers’ standards. In 11 games he’s now led his side to two draws and nine wins, the latest of which sends Livingston into a major final at the expense of a disappointing St Mirren side.
Martindale will be back at Hampden before 28 February, when the final is scheduled to be played. In fact, he returns as early as tomorrow – well, virtually at least, for a three-person SFA hearing to determine whether he can carry on being the manager of Livingston. This concern has been hanging over Martindale since he replaced Gary Holt in November. Livingston have not lost since. They rode their luck at times here, particularly when Craig Sibbald, pictured left, cleared Conor Mccarthy’s header off the line shortly after half-time.
But Robinson’s early header – yes, header – proved decisive despite coming with 80 plus minutes still to play. The former Hearts midfielder was replaced with ten minutes to go after yet again proving an effective centre forward, as unlikely as this might once have seemed. The 28-yearold later said he did what he always does and that was act “the pest” as he gave the st mirr en centre-backs a tough time of it, despite the height difference.
He won not one but two headers to put his side in front after just ten minutes after Cammy Macpherson had been penalised for a foul on Marvin Bartley near the far touchline. His first flick took the ball towards the back post, where Efe Ambrose, pictured above, had the chance to put his side in front. The defender’s header crashed back off the bar but there was little Robinson, all 5ft 5in of him, to nod the ball into the net.
What an eight-day spell this has been for Livingston, including two draws against Celtic. They simply refuse to be knocked off course, not by the champions, certainly not by St Mirren, whose limitations were plain to see here, much to manager Jim Goodwin’s evident frustration. He even slipped on his backside in the rush to collect a ball as time ran out for his side. It was not a good day for the Northern Irishman.
At the final whistle, Ambrose fell to his knees and pointed to the skies. He’s been to finals before with Celtic. He has played in a World Cup in Brazil with Nigeria. But this is not what was expected when he signed for Livi in February last year after a spell out of the game.
Scott Pittman and Robinson were immense, as was skipper Bartley. Jon Guthrie was as reliable as ever at the back and might have opened the scoring with a half chance in the opening moments.
Livi scored early and held firm, surviving a penalty appeal when Joe Shaughnessy went down under Nicky Devlin’s challenge. Martindale proved his tactical worth by changing his side’ s shape in the second half as Saints exerted pressure. For so long credited with being the power behind the throne, he’s now relishing being within his rights to shout on the sidelines, a manager in every sense bar the green light from the SFA.
This was supposed to be the place where Livingston would be found out. A large, grass pitch, opponents who had beaten them twice already this season. But although Livi’s lead remained a slender one, and they surrendered control of the game for large chunks of it before and after half-time, the West Lothian side never looked in too much danger, even when St Mirren employed their contingency options – Jon Obika and Ilkay Durmus - with just over 20 minutes left.
Some might wonder why they were not on from the start. So, too, Kyle Mcallister, who was sent on just before the hour mark, and brought some much-needed creativity. But while Shaughnessy went close with a late header, and Martindale continued to fret, Livingston survived.
LIVINGSTON: Stryjek, Devlin, Ambrose, Guthrie, Serrano, Mullin (Reilly 73), Holt, Bartley, Pitman, Sibbald (Longridge 86), Robinson (Fitzwater 81). Subs not used: Mccrorie, Emmanuel-thomas, Forrest, Mcmillan, Lawson, Kabia.
ST MIRREN: Alnwick, Fraser, Mccarthy, Shaughnessy, Tait, Connolly (Mcallister 57), Mcgrath, Macpherson (Obika 68), Erhahon, Mason (Durmus 68), Brophy (Dennis 81). Subs not used: Finlayson, Flynn, Foley, Erwin, Lyness.
REFEREE: David Munro.