TIME TO GRASP A GOLDEN MOMENT
Livingston defied the odds to move within 90 minutes of promotion, now Halkett dreams of finishing the job
IN American Football, there is the Super Bowl window. A teasingly short amount of time a team has, in such a cyclical league, to achieve the ultimate. The span after which opportunities for success are gone for multiple reasons. Ageing squad, juggling the salary cap, rivals improving through the draft system. Or simply being figured out by opponents.
Prying through a window for long enough for a few shots at glory is a mark of hierarchy management masterclass. The alternative — or the norm, in fact — is a long spell scheming a route back to the top.
Granted, if there is such a thing as a very brief window about to close on Livingston then this hellbent group are more likely than not to smash through it.
They are in a great position to do it, leading 2-1 from their Premiership Play-off final first leg against Partick Thistle.
However, there is very much a sense of ‘seize this promotion moment’ about these shock troops of this Ladbrokes Championship season.
Today’s second leg at Firhill is the climax of a campaign where it’s all gone surprisingly, gloriously right under David Hopkin’s excellent guidance.
Where short-term mid-season fixes of Rangers loan kid Ryan Hardie and 34-year-old Lee Miller sparked the run to runners-up spot.
Where division rivals have been stunned by an up-and-at-them style scarcely easy on the eye and moulded on a paltry budget. Where much more fancied promotion contenders like Dundee United and Falkirk have performed well below expectation.
Those bigger clubs will likely be back stronger. But can the same be predicted of these Lions if the legs of this high-energy crew just happen to give way late on in Glasgow’s west end this evening?
Livingston absolutely deserve to be where they are right now. In a better place than Partick Thistle. About to swap places with the top flight’s second-worst performers of the season.
While the stars are aligned, they must take advantage. Rangers, Hibernian and now Dundee United have required more than one extra life to go up in recent years.
But the Ibrox and Easter Road outfits kept throwing funds at it. Livingston don’t have that luxury. Retaining momentum and replicating chemistry will be more difficult with vultures preying on their success. The manager is, rather obviously, already in great demand and on Carlisle’s list.
The best and probably only way to keep it all together is to do what they’ve threatened since the turn of the year. Clinch one of the most unlikely promotions in Scottish football history.
Certainly an event no one could have envisaged when the season began with a 1-1 Betfred Cup draw against Partick on July 15.
Not a bad result, with a bonus group point won in a penalty shoot-out for the League One champions of last term. A draw would do just fine again today. The bonus will be massive.
‘There could be change, there are a lot of boys in the squad attracting attention,’ noted captain Craig Halkett. ‘Everyone in the squad has had an absolutely brilliant season.
‘As for the manager himself, I’m sure there will be loads of teams looking at him. He gave me my first break in senior football and you develop by playing games.
‘He does a lot of coaching and speaks to you one-on-one which helps. Some of the boys have come in from Junior football like Scott Pittman and they’ve developed under him.
‘He gives loads of boys confidence. He tells us that there is no pressure, just go and play your game. I think man-management is the key to his success. ‘But just now everyone is thinking only of the play-offs. Everyone stated that our aim
was just to stay in the league but the boys became quietly confident we could maybe push for the play-offs.
‘I think coming second was massive and, the more you win games, the more you start to believe.’
Maybe even Hopkin (below) was behind the curve in terms of the soaring spirits. For he mentioned in late March that the play-offs would probably prove too difficult.
Thanks to come-from-behind goals from Keaghan Jacobs and Pittman, Livvy are on the brink of returning to the top flight for the first time since 2006. Halkett explains that the team on a roll, which Hamilton were when becoming the only second-tier side to go up via the play-offs in 2014, have the advantage of playing without fear.
Asking a team accustomed to not winning games to overcome a deficit against a group of renowned scrappers is one for Livvy and the three-man back line marshalled by Halkett to lick their lips at.
‘We just wanted to keep ourselves in the tie but it’s an added bonus to be going there with a lead,’ he said.
‘I don’t think Partick would have expected that but it’s set up nicely now.
‘It’s up to them now. It was the same with Dundee United in the semi-final, they had to come on to us. That suits us even more. We like defending.
‘No one expects us to go up but that suits us. We’re all delighted and we knew we had that result in us. We weren’t surprised.
‘Everyone was buzzing before the game and we carried that on to the park. It could have been more, we had a few good chances.
‘We always go to the final whistle, we’re all fit and I think they were shocked with that in the last 30 minutes when we were still running into corners.
‘We were a wee bit wary of how they were going to come at us having not played Premiership teams much. But we know how they’re going to play now.
‘I think that gives us even more confidence going into the second leg. The longer the game went on, the more they became nervous and started kicking the ball long, which suited us.’
Ninety minutes from the Ladbrokes Premiership, Livingston have no truck with going all agricultural again today in the event of Thistle mustering a bombardment towards veteran Neil Alexander’s goal.
‘We’ve shown all season that, if we need to keep teams out or keep a clean sheet, we’re definitely capable of doing that,’ said Halkett. ‘I think we can see it through.
‘Do we train like we play? Well, I’m not going to lie. There are a few flying tackles in training, but all the boys know the score and we shake hands at the end of the day. That’s what we love doing, defending, putting your head in where it hurts.
‘And knowing Neil is behind you gives you confidence. Being a young captain, Neil has been one of the boys I’ve turned to. He’s helped a lot.’
The boss gives you confidence. He tells us to play without pressure