Jack’s the lad as Livvy run riot to give County a finishing lesson
JACK STOBBS admits he could barely breathe just a few minutes into his Livingston debut. But it wasn’t too long until the Sheffield Wednesday loanee was taking everyone’s breath away at the Global Energy Stadium.
Seven minutes into the second half, the 22-year-old winger marked his Livvy debut with the first competitive goal of his professional career — and it was one that he will never forget.
The instinctive first-time strike was sweet and crisp after he had taken a long, high Steven Lawless diagonal pass brilliantly on the volley. And it effectively snuffed out any chances of a revival from the home side at 4-1 down.
Yet Leeds-born winger Stobbs, who hadn’t played since February, admits he was feeling the pace. He only came on for injured Scott Robinson after 29 minutes, but had to go off exhausted with ten minutes to play.
‘It’s my first goal in professional football, so it’s not a bad way to start off,’ he said. ‘With a goal like that, it comes naturally to you. When the ball comes over like that it’s just instinct to hit it. Some end up in the stand and some in the top corner. It could have gone horribly wrong but luckily it went in.
‘I just want to play as many games as I can and see what happens in January when the loan is up. I’ll get back to full fitness and, I hope, get more game time.
‘I’ve not played since February and that was a reserve fixture. I’ll get another couple of weeks of games under my belt and, hopefully, the fitness will come.
‘During the first ten minutes I couldn’t breathe, so it was a tough one to get into. But once we came out again for the second half, I started to feel a bit more comfortable.’
While Livingston are showing the same grit and resourcefulness as they did from the outset last season, County’s setback was a lot more concerning. The Dingwall team had started with four points from six, with the impressive home victory over Hamilton one they were very keen to replicate.
Saturday’s match could hardly have been more different. Gone was the solidity and assurance, with their game plan torn apart by three goals for the visitors inside the first 26 minutes.
With only three minutes on the clock, Keaghan Jacobs’ free-kick found John Guthrie and he headed home unmarked.
As Livingston kept coming, Scott Pittman fluffed a free header in front of goal, while County’s Blair Spittal had to hack a powerful Ricki Lamie header off the goalline.
The second goal wasn’t long in the making. After 14 minutes, there was chaos in the County box and Jacobs’ supply found Lawless, ten yards out, and he fired home.
The hosts’ problems piled up as they lost centre-half Liam Fontaine to injury, before Livingston struck the third after 26 minutes.
Again, it was Jacobs who delivered the telling ball with a cutback finding Lyndon Dykes, who gleefully swept home a low finish.
County were virtual spectators looking on as Dykes thundered clean through the middle of their defence after 41 minutes, but his finish from the right side of the box was wild.
The hosts did find a glint of hope a minute before the break. Good build-up play ended with Billy Mckay threading a pass into the box and Ross Stewart cutting a shot into the far corner from the right side of the penalty area.
However, any hope that inspired was stifled after 52 minutes when Stobbs produced his stunning volley from 16 yards after Lawless had surged away on the left and delivered the cross. For County skipper Marcus Fraser there was an honest appraisal of his team’s failings, but a refusal to panic.
‘We just didn’t start anywhere near well enough and the only good spell we had in the game was maybe the first ten minutes of the second half. But we then gave away a really cheap goal,’ he said. ‘We don’t put the blame on anyone else. We start with ourselves first. Maybe that’s the wake-up call we need to compete properly this season in the Premiership.
‘The last year or so has been all positives. Now people will give us criticism and we need to stand up and take it on the chin.
‘It’s going to be a tough test next at Aberdeen but we’ll dust ourselves down and go again. It’s not a time to panic. Today was just out of character.’ ROSS COUNTY (4-4-2): Laidlaw 6; Fraser 5, Morris 6, Fontaine 4 (Watson 21), Kelly 5; Mullin 5, Vigurs 5 (Paton 73), Chalmers 4 (Grivosti 46), Spittal 6; Stewart 7, Mckay 6. Subs not used: Ruddy, Armstrong, Power, Reid.
Booked: Morris. LIVINGSTON (4-5-1): Stewart 6; Devlin 6, Lithgow 6, Guthrie 7, Lamie 7; Robinson 4 (Stobbs 29, Erskine 80), Bartley 7, Pittman 6, Jacobs 7 (Crawford 55), Lawless 7; Dykes 8. Subs not used: Sarkic, Souda, McMillan, Tiffoney. Booked: Lithgow. Man of the match: Lyndon Dykes. Referee: John Beaton. Attendance: 4,237.