Stokes penalty digs Hibs out of a

● Hosts fight back to secure place in Betfred Cup semis as late winner sees off Livingston

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There was no hiding place for anyone in green and white in this game. Not after four games without a win and not after manager Neil Lennon had read his players the riot act, comparing their weekend display against Motherwell to the work of eight-year-olds. On Saturday the Premiership side had squandered a twogoal advantage, prompting the public outburst. It also convinced the Easter Road boss to ring the changes as he attempted to recapture the early-season form and steer his men into the semi-finals of the term’s first major cup competition.

He made four switches to the starting line-up as Ofir Marciano, Steven Whittaker, Brandon Barker and Simon Murray were all relegated to a place on the bench, replaced by Ross Laidlaw, Lewis Stevenson, Vykintas Slivka and Danny Swanson. And the initial signs were positive as they created openings against their Championship rivals.

But the second-tier side stoodresolute.theyhave been a force to be reckoned with this term and, as well as progressing in this competition, have suffered just one defeat whilst on league duty.

With line of defence, packed behind line of defence, they were able to repel Hibernian’s forward skirmishes. Swanson and Martin Boyle were both looking lively in attack, while Anthony Stokes offered some authority in the front line but they came up against a stubborn Livingston backline a s Nikolay Todorov, Craig Halkett and Alan Lithgow, in particular, weighed in with key interventions. Even when they managed to evade the Livi defenders, they were faced by a determined Neil Alexander in goal and the former Hearts and Rangers keeper denied Stokes att he near post in the fourth minute and parried a Boyle piledriver a minute later.

In the eighth minute Hibs threatened again when David Gray stretched to send the ball across the face of goal. Boyle couldn’t quite get on the end of it and captain Gray seemed to pick up an injury, which saw him replaced by Whittaker a few minutes later.

By that stage Hibs had been rocked back onto their heels by a Livingston opener.

In a rare venture upfield the guests won a free-kick about 25-30 yards out. Raffaele de Vita and Nick Cadden stood over it and when it was swung into the box, Lithgow rose above everyone else to send a header looping over Laidlaw and high into the net.

Having found themselves in hot water for throwing away a two-goal cushion at the weekend, Hibs did not even have that luxury last night and, with the defensive frailties surfacing again, they were suddenly under pressure and this time they were the ones tasked with conjuring up the finishes needed to stage a comeback.

They levelled things in the 18th minute when Swanson netted his first competitive goal for Hibs and gave his boyhood heroes the chance to regain their equilibrium. The ball came in from the right and, opening his body, he scooped the ball over Alexander from the edge of the area. That deft, right-foot finish should have been the catalyst for Hibs to move up through the gears but that has proved a struggle for them in recent weeks and Livingston were in no mood to make it any easier for them last night.

Manager David Hopkin rejigged his formation to combat the swathes of Hibs attacks and offer something more on the counter but they remained organised and steadfast in defence. The same could not be said of the home rearguard, who had Lennon fuming and the fans chewing their nails as lapses were pounced on.

In the 28th minute Efe Ambrose’s inability to clear