Lions conquer Saints to hit safety zone

Published on Monday 2 April 2007 11:48

LIVINGSTON took a massive step towards preserving their First Division status by defeating St Johnstone 2-1 at McDiarmid Park.

The victory moved the Lions up to sixth in the table - nine clear of second bottom Ross County - and virtually ruled them out of an end of season relegation play-off.

Despite going a goal behind in the first half after Jason Scotland sent the Saints ahead on the half-hour mark, the Almondvale side fought back to claim all three points in the second period.

Substitute Graham Dorrans equalised with a deflected shot just three minutes after coming onto the field on 66 minutes. And after St Johnstone goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert was harshly shown a straight red for handling outside the penalty area to halt a Dorrans forward run, the 19-year-old striker netted his and Livingston's second.

The pacy young forward finished off a move that involved fellow sub Liam Fox and Scott Mitchell to give the Lions the win with nine minutes remaining.

Almondvale assistant manager Dave Bowman praised Dorrans on his match winning display: "Graham looked very lively, caused them a lot of problems when he went on and scored two good goals," he said.

"He has everything and all he needs is an end product to his game. Hopefully the penny has dropped, as when he runs at people he's a real handful."

He added: "I don't think we competed at all in the first half and the boys knew that. We deservedly went a goal down, but great credit to the players as they turned it round. We played a lot of good football in the second half and were worthy winners in the end."