The Scottish Mail on Sunday

KEEPING A SPOT OF FAITH PAYS OFF FOR KELLY

- By Fraser Mackie

FOR Sean Kelly, a costly mistake and moment of acute embarrassm­ent can be safely consigned to the memory bin.

After scoring a confident penalty in the 3-2 victory at Kilmarnock on Friday night, the Livingston midfielder need no longer carry around the shame of his horror miss at St Mirren.

Kelly launched a spot-kick into orbit in Paisley as

David Martindale’s men lost 2-1 last month.

The result set back an otherwise pleasing run of form that announced Livi as serious top six contenders.

But they’re back in that mix now, with the comeback victory in Ayrshire a significan­t statement.

Twice the visitors fell behind and dragged themselves level before a calamitous Chris Stokes own goal gave them a deserved three points.

It was the first time Livi had won from a losing position this season and no one held their nerve better than Kelly to make it 2-2 from the spot.

He revealed: ‘I was surprised that I missed at St Mirren — I don’t know what happened and I don’t really like to talk about it.

‘But it was closer to going over the stand than it was to going in. However, I was pretty confident I’d put the one away on Friday. I wasn’t nervous or feeling under pressure, I just wasn’t for putting it over the bar again.

‘You do end up being under more pressure because you’ve more time to think about it waiting for the VAR check. That can be a bad thing because you can talk yourself out of where you had decided to put the ball. But I believe you need to stick with your pre-game plan and stick it where you first thought.

‘I hadn’t even taken another penalty at training since St Mirren — I was haunted by it! I just trusted myself to go back to my old routine.’

Livingston confront two tough fixtures before the World Cup — Aberdeen at home on Tuesday then Hearts at Tynecastle.

‘We’re looking to take points from both of them,’ stressed Kelly. ‘I think we’ve given ourselves

something to build on.

‘To score three and come out on top against Kilmarnock showed great character.

‘Our start has been much better than last year but the league table doesn’t always reflect that because the division is so competitiv­e. Another two wins could lift us to third or fourth.’

Livingston’s comeback was a personal debacle for Killie centre-half Stokes.

He hit the crossbar with a header just before half-time, conceded the penalty from which Kelly equalised then sliced into his own net to gift away the points.

Defensive colleague Joe Wright saw his remarkable brace rendered irrelevant.

The Englishman, who missed the whole of 2021/22 through injury, hadn’t scored for 23 months.

‘I’d rather not score and get something out of the game,’ said Wright. ‘I’ll probably look back at it and be a bit happier about it in a couple of days.

‘But, at the moment, I couldn’t care less. I’m very disappoint­ed. I think our performanc­e on the whole wasn’t good enough. We expect better.’

Derek McInnes’s side travel to Dundee United in midweek before hosting Hibernian. Wright added: ‘We were on a good run before losing at

St Johnstone so we have to get back on track now.

‘We’ve been in games even when we’ve been beaten, so it’s not that worrying.’

 ?? ?? JOY: Kelly is mobbed after scoring his penalty
JOY: Kelly is mobbed after scoring his penalty

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