Lions should have been kings but got mugged by County
Livingston could have moved into the top-six with a win here but, in spite of pummelling the opposition for the majority of the match, their inability to turn their dominance into goals undermined their good work.
They were mugged by a County side that hadn’t beaten Livi in their previous eight meetings but the three points they snatched here lifted them above Kilmarnock and out of the relegation places – at least until this afternoon.
County manager Malky Mackay was thrilled by the “grit and determination” his side displayed here and there was no shortage of either.
“People questioned their character after that 5-0 home defeat against Motherwell in midweek but I never doubted them,” he said.
“I really enjoyed the nature of the win,” he said.“I always knew it was going to be difficult because we hadn’t won here in a decade so I’m delighted to put a marker down as far as that’s concerned.”
It took 11 minutes for the first half-chance to arrive. Alex Iacovitti sliced a clearance against the in-rushing Kurtis Guthrie but Joel Nouble couldn’t get there quickly enough to convert the striker’s driven cross.
Three minutes later Livi squandered an opportunity of the clear-cut variety when Cristian Montano’s cross found Guthrie in space just six yards out but he rushed his shot and failed to hit the target.
Keith Watson picked up the first yellow card in the 22nd minute when he cynically chopped down Nouble. It could easily have been a straight red for the full-back but two County defenders were racing across to cover and that may have saved them from going down to 10 men.
County, meanwhile, had offered little in the way of an attacking threat. Theirs was a lacklustre display but lustre wasn’t all it was lacking.
Livi dominated territorially and in terms of possession but too often their final ball was found wanting, with Dylan Sahamboula particularly guilty of not knowing when to release it or have a shot.
County replaced skipper Watson with Callum Johnson at the break but the pattern remained unchanged.
A well-worked free-kick from the home side ended with Scott
Pittman’s low drive flashing through a ruck of players and Ross Laidlaw thrusting out his right leg to deflect the ball over for a corner in the 53rd minute.
Kazeem Oliagbe sent an angled drive wide of Shamal George’s
right-hand post shortly afterwards but it was a brief respite for the Highlanders’ defence as Livi set up base camp in the final third of the pitch.
Unfortunately for Martindale’s men, they found the area too congested to play their way through and the frustration of the home fans increased as the match ground on.
The longer the game remained goalless, of course, the more likely it seemed that the Staggies might get lucky with one of their hit-andhope punts up the park but the Lions ought to have roared into the lead midway through the second half.
Sean Kelly’s corner was nodded on by Guthrie for Ato Odilaye. A yard out, the centre-half’s effort was pushed straight back to him by Laidlaw only for him to scuff his attempt from the rebound right at the ‘keeper.
It was to prove a costly miss. Four minutes later the Staggies broke away and, although Jordy Hiwula’s piledriver came back off the crossbar, Owura raced in to head home the loose ball.