Livi aim to roar again as vital fixtures loom
Livingston midfielder Jason Holt admits the Lions will need to up their game to take the points against St Mirren.
The experienced 28-year-old believes they made it too easy for Hearts as the Jambos strolled to a 3-0 win at Tynecastle last week – and says they didn’t do all the things that have made Livi such a difficult team to play against in recent seasons.
He commented: “We have another tough game coming up against St Mirren. It’s a game you look at and say you really want to win it. We need to recover well.
“We wanted to be competitive and we were the opposite. We never pressed high up the park and we made it really easy for them, particularly in the first half.
“We had a game in midweek and they had a good week’s training but you can’t use that as an excuse. You still need to be more competitive and energetic than we were. All over the park we were just lacking.
“That wee edge you need to have in games just wasn’t there. You usually associate our performances with a competitive edge, high pressure on the ball, but it wasn’t there.”
He added: “Every year it’s extremely tough and we’ve had to play a lot of the teams who finished higher up last season but we still wanted a better points return.
“Hearts played well but we made it a wee bit easier for them.”
The Lions had played both Celtic and Rangers since Hearts’ previous fixture and it was quickly apparent that the hosts were the more energetic side.
Despite creating little, Livi had at least kept their hosts at bay for the opening 25 minutes – but as soon as Michael Smith burst the net with a fine strike from 12 yards, it was complete domination from the Jambos.
Liam Boyce made it 2-0 on 33 minutes from the penalty spot after Ben Williamson had fouled Beni Baningame to all but wrap up the victory before the interval.
Hearts peppered the Livi goal but had to wait until the 64th minute to find the net once more as Barrie McKay’s drive across goal was turned home by Alex Cochrane.
The visitors elected to play Andrew Shinnie as the main focal point in attack once more, but all that worked against Celtic six days previously was missing in the capital.
Both sides had played neat attacking football without being able to cause any damage. The first shot on target didn’t arrive until the 25th minute – but the hosts made it count.
McKay coasted down the right flank with his floating delivery into the box finding its way to Smith. The Northern Irishman was given far too much room as he emphatically rifled the ball home for his first goal of the season.
That changed to tone of the game as Hearts sensed blood. Ben Woodburn’s free-kick almost squirmed through the grasp of Max Stryjek on 30 minutes before the Jambos doubled their lead three minutes later.
Williamson foolishly clipped the energetic Baningame inside the box, with Boyce sending the keeper the wrong way from the resulting spot-kick.
Smith almost netted his second moments before the break when his rasping strike from 25 yards was palmed over by Stryjek.
In a bid to get back into the contest, the Lions made a double switch at half-time with Jackson Longridge and Stephane Omeonga replacing Adam Lewis and Williamson.
It didn’t have the desired impact as the hosts continued to dominate with Stryjek keeping the score down twice in the opening stages.
The Polish keeper made a stunning diving save to his right to prevent a Stephen Kingsley freekick from finding the net – with even the Hearts man applauding the stop – before denying McKay after the winger had intercepted a loose Ayo Obileye pass.
McKay made amends a few minutes later when his ball across the face of goal was turned home by an unmarked Cochrane.
The final 25 minutes resembled little more than a training game as the Jambos ran out comfortable winners. For Livi, though, they’ll need to find a way to up their performances as they enter a pivotal run of fixtures.