Livingston back up to third after Sons victory

Livingston bounced back from their Tannadice drubbing on Saturday to defeat hosts Dumbarton 4-1 and move back into third place in the Championship table.

Manager David Hopkin said: “We lost 3-0 to Dundee United but I knew the players would bounce back as they always do. They are a good group who have now scored four goals at a tough venue.”

The game’s first opening came on 22 minutes when Tom walsh darted forward to the edge of Livingston’s box before letting fly with a low effort that skipped past Neil Alexander only to run wide.

Ali Roy had better luck on 25 minutes when he cut inside Declan Gallagher and cracked a fierce shot home from 16 yards.

The visitors drew level within two minutes, though, when home goalkeeper Scott Gallacher spilled a Nicky Cadden free kick and Craig Halkett drilled the loose ball home.

Livingston led on 43 minutes when Scott Pittman ran onto a Dylan Mackin pass to guide the ball past the outrushing Gallacher.

Mackin made it 3-1 ten minutes into the second half from less than a yard out as he turned in a low Raffaelle De Vita cross.

Substitute Scott Robinson emphasised the gulf between the teams when he sent a shot trundling home via a post after Christian Nade had failed to clear a free-kick with ten minutes remaining.

The winning margin would have been even greater had Gallacher not pushed away a penalty from Matthew Knox with five minutes left as Dumbarton’s day went from bad to worse when Kyle Hutton was dismissed for two late bookings.

Sons manager Stephen Aitken said: “It was a game too far for us. We thought it was a good idea to rearrange it for Boxing Day but that was not the case.”