Runaway Lions shackled by QP
Spiders halt Livi’s bid for six wins on the spin
Callum Carson Livingston’s winning run was brought to an end in disappointing fashion with home defeat against Queen’s Park.
The Lions had gone into the game on the back of five straight victories in all competitions but came up against an in-form Spiders team that had clinched 14 points from their previous six league contests.
The fact that the game even went ahead was testament to the ground staff at the Tony Macaroni Arena as they dealt admirably with torrential rain and gale-force winds over the previous day.
The hosts got off to a bright start with Livi’s Nicky Cadden a constant threat down the left flank.
He was the first to have a shot at goal, and after a bit of pinball, Josh Mullin looked to prod the ball home but could only fire wide.
Sean Crighton almost scored a stunning fluke when his cross from just inside the Queen’s Park half appeared to get caught in the wind and William Muir was required to tip the ball over the bar.
Livi enjoyed almost complete possession in the opening half-hour but they were forced back on their heels when Gus MacPherson’s side won a series of corners and Craig Halkett kept the game scoreless as he threw his body into a Bryan Wharton strike from the edge of the box.
But the home side would go into the break with the advantage their play deserved when Liam Buchanan made the most of a defensive error and pounced on a Shaun Byrne pass, rounded the keeper and tapped the ball home from two feet out for his 13th league goal of the campaign.
Queen’s Park would come out after the break and look a completely different side as they laid siege on the Livi goal and were able to turn the game completely on its head before the hour mark – with a little help from referee Steven Kirkland who certainly didn’t have one of his better games. Liam Kelly was called in to action on 51 minutes when he tipped a Scott Gibson strike past the post before the away side were awarded a soft penalty when Alan Lithgow and Ryan McGeever appeared to tangle their legs together from a corner kick which shouldn’t have been awarded as Mullin had been clearly fouled in the lead-up. Not that Queen’s were going to complain. Up stepped Jamie McKernon to rifle the ball into the corner and beyond the diving Kelly to draw his side level. At the halfway point, Liam Buchanan has 13 league goals and is well on pace to break the Livi record of 22 held by Iain Russell from 2010-11.
Queen’s would take the lead three minutes later when Adam Cummins lashed home after slack defending from the hosts.
That sparked a re-shuffle and a change to 4-4-2 with Jackson Longridge replacing Mullin.
The Lions were handed a golden chance to equalise on 72 minutes when Danny Mullen was clipped in the box, but Buchanan’s tame penalty effort straight down the middle was saved by the legs of Muir.
The striker was then blatantly pushed in the box in the dying stages only for Kirkland to book Buchanan for simulation when Livi should have been awarded their second penalty.
The hosts continued to throw men forward but their final home game of the year ended in defeat.
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