LIONS ROAR ON
Martindale’s Livvy conquer County to reach last four
AFIRST major cup semi-final in nearly 15 years, against St Mirren, awaits Livingston after the Lions continued their flawless run under interim manager David Martindale.
There was more than a slice of good fortune associated with this Betfred Cup victory over Ross County, which was sealed through first-half goals from Craig Sibbald and Alan Forrest.
Livingston, winners of the competition in 2004 when they stunned Hibs at Hampden, had the football Gods on their side for Sibbald’s opener after four minutes.
An unintentional pass from County defender Reg an Charles- Cook meant Scott Robinson, who provided the assist, was not offside.
Slapdash defending from Callum Morris then gifted Forrest a simple second 20 minutes later.
This was a County team who had dumped holders Celtic out the competition in the previous round in Glasgow.
But there was to be no repeat of those heroics against a side who have now won four successive games since Gary Holt decided to step down as manager.
Martindale said: ‘I’m delighted for everyone at the club, it’s brilliant.
‘We did what we had to do and we got a wee bit of luck with the first goal.
‘ The boys were in t here cheering they got St Mirren. St Mirren will be cheering they got Livingston and so on.
‘I think there’s a good mix and hopefully it will lead to a smaller team winning a trophy, which is great for Scottish football.
‘ To see their faces in there after the game, it’s a great feeling to see how happy some of these boys are.
‘ It’s a winnable game but it’s also a winnable game for St Mirren. All four teams will be looking at it, saying: “It’s a decent draw”.’
The last time Livvy ventured this far in the League Cup was January 2006, when they were beaten by Dunfermline at Easter Road.
They will be hoping to go a stage further when they negotiate next month’s last-four showdown.
After being i n danger of becoming a soft touch, Livingston are a different animal under the guidance of Martindale.
Already buoyed by their winning run with the 46-year- old at the helm, Livingston brought that confidence into the start of this encounter.
They were presented with the f i rst chance within the f i rst minute after Morris clumsily climbed over the back of the diminutive Scott Pittman when trying to win an aerial battle.
The free-kick came to nothing, Josh Mullin beating the wall but hitting his effort straight into the arms of the grateful Ross Laidlaw.
A lightning break in the fourth minute, however, resulted in Livingston opening the scoring through Sibbald with the help of some fine refereeing from Steven McLean.
Robinson was clearly i n an offside position when he swept a pass into the midfielder’s path, l eaving Sibbald to run clear before striking a low shot past Laidlaw.
Assistant Andrew McWilliam had initially raised his flag but McLean allowed play to continue, correctly judging that the pass to Robinson came off Charles-Cook as the County right-back stopped Pittman in his tracks.
County were incensed and quickly surrounded the official to demand answers.
But McLean conferred with McWilliam before signalling to the centre spot.
County set about trying to rediscover their composure. Striker Ross Stewart attempted to restore parity moments later but his near-post flick from Iain Vigurs’ corner rippled the side netting.
While there was an element of fortune to Livingston’s first goal, the second, in the 24th minute, had comedic value.
On his own bye line and under pressure from Robinson, Morris’ attempted clearance took a huge deflection off the striker and spun over the six-yard box before being headed into the gaping net by Forrest at the back post.
The visitors were in disarray and Livingston’s small but pacey attacking quartet were in no mood to pull the brakes on t heir t i r eless pressing and running.
However, Livingston keeper Max Stryjek did have to pull off a fine save to keep out Stewart’s low drive.
The Dingwall side were looking for inspiration, but there would be no helping hand from the referee.
The official opted for a yellow card when he could easily have sent off Jon Guthrie for pulling back Billy Mckay as he tried to connect with Vigurs’ pass on the edge of the box.
From the free-kick, Vigurs fired just over the bar.
The man in the middle then waved away penalty appeals when Harry Paton fell under a challenge from Pittman.
But the home side were by no means done as an attacking entity. Robinson was denied a third with a stunning volley that came back off the bar from an angle inside the box.
The post then denied Livvy in the dying stages. Pittman picked out Julien Serrano and the left-back’s low drive came back off the inside of the post.
County boss Stuart Kettlewell lamented two key decisions that didn’t go his team’s way in the first half.
He said: ‘ There was a yellow card for the challenge on Billy Mckay when he was cl ean through. That’s a big decision at that time in the game.
‘Then, with the penalty claim, Harry is a very honest boy and he takes a lot of challenges on a weekly basis and generally when he goes down there is contact. He is adamant he has been fouled inside the penalty area.’
LIVINGSTON (4-2-3-1): Stryjek; Devlin, Guthrie, Fitzwater, Serrano; Sibbald, Bartley; Mullin (Holt 62), Pittman, Forrest (Brown 46); Robinson (Poplatnik 76). Subs not used: McCrorie, Lawson, McMillan, Taylor-Sinclair, Ambrose, Emmanuel-Thomas. Booked: Guthrie, Brown, Sibbald.
ROSS COUNTY (4-4-2): Laidlaw; CharlesCook (Donaldson 22), Morris, Iacovitti, Reid; Kelly, Vigurs, Gardyne (Draper 61), Paton (Shaw 82); Mckay, Stewart. Subs not
used: Doohan, Tremarco, Hylton, Watson, Tillson, Wright. Booked: Vigurs, Gardyne. Man of the match: Craig Sibbald. Referee: Steven McLean.