Home is where the hope is for Killie
KILMARNOCK boosted their chances of Premiership survival with a hard-fought victory over Livingston at Rugby Park.
Second-half goals from Kyle Vassell and Danny Armstrong were enough to secure a vital three points for Derek McInnes’ side.
Killie started the day second from bottom but now move out of the relegation places, a point clear of Ross County and three clear of bottom side Dundee United.
With only three games left to play, Killie will fancy their chances of steering clear of danger with what looks to be a favourable run-in.
They host St Johnstone at Rugby Park next weekend, before travelling to Tannadice to face Dundee United, and then hosting Ross County on the final day.
McInnes’ side continue to churn out results on home soil this season and their stellar record at Rugby Park will surely imbue them with confidence over the remaining fixtures.
Despite being far from their best yesterday, particularly during a nervy first half, they dug deep to secure a crucial victory.
‘We spoke at half-time about the need for calm,’ said McInnes. ‘It’s that thing about fire and ice — you want to be passionate and show you’re motivated, whilst also being calm.
‘We were too nervy and too agitated in the first half. It was frantic and we didn’t have enough composure in the game.
‘Getting the goal at the start of the second half really settled everyone down. You could feel it in the whole stadium.
‘With Kyle, we trained on Thursday and he didn’t do the full session. But we felt we got him to a stage where he had a chance to play (after a recent hamstring injury).
‘It’s that whole element of risk and reward. He makes a big difference to us with his strength and his ability to threaten in behind. We don’t have enough of that.
‘When he plays, we’re a better team — it’s as simple as that. It’s pivotal we keep him fit.’
It was Livingston who enjoyed the better of the early exchanges. Overloading the central areas, they were causing Kilmarnock problems in and out of possession.
There was a nervousness to Killie when they had the ball. They seemed to lack a sense of purpose, with stray passes going backwards and sideways.
But it was the home side who managed to engineer the first good chance of the match when the impressive Vassell wriggled clear of the Livi defence on 17 minutes.
Vassell composed himself as he went through one-one-one with Shamal George, but the Livi keeper stood tall and spread himself well to make the save.
Livi had plenty of neat and tidy combinations in the central areas but were struggling to create anything clear-cut.
Killie had another chance to open the scoring on 26 minutes when Vassell flicked the ball back across the face of goal, but David Watson’s header was straight into the arms of George.
It was a strange game in the sense that, despite being poor in possession, it was Killie who had actually managed to manufacture the best chances of the opening 45 minutes.
A lack of guile and potency in the final third has largely summed up Killie’s season. They are far too reliant on Armstrong to either score or create from the wing.
But, when the second half got underway, Killie looked a different team.
Within three minutes of the restart, they took the lead. It owed to some nice combination play from their front two, Christian Doidge flicking the ball through for strike partner Vassell to run on to.
He took aim and thumped a leftfoot shot low across George and into the bottom corner for 1-0 to notch his first league goal since joining the club in January.
It was a scruffy finish, and one George perhaps should have saved, but it was fitting reward for Vassell, who was by far Killie’s most dangerous player.
Joel Nouble threatened an equaliser when he skinned Joe Wright and got a shot away but Killie keeper Sam Walker made the save down low at his feet.
Killie doubled their lead on 64 minutes thanks to a VAR-assisted penalty. Turning and volleying towards goal, Doidge’s effort was blocked awkwardly by Jason Holt.
Referee David Munro went over to the monitor, awarded the spot-kick, and Armstrong duly stepped up to send George the wrong way for 2-0.
Walker was required to make a smart stop to keep out a Stephen Kelly free-kick on 75 minutes, but there was never any genuine danger of Killie surrendering their lead.
Livi have now lost seven away games on the bounce in the league without scoring a goal and David Martindale’s side faded as the game wore on.
Martindale said: ‘Our away form since the turn of the year has been nothing short of horrific.
‘I have changed the shape and the personnel but we are not getting the winning formula.
‘We only have ourselves to blame as we are not doing the basics at both ends of the park.
‘It is definitely a confidence issue but we need to dig deep and get it back.
‘There are certain individuals within the group who are not doing their job.’