Livingston 0-1 Falkirk: No respite for Lions

Blair Alston scored the game's only goal. Picture: SNS

Livi’s former chief executive, Ged Nixon, launched a scathing attack on the club’s principal shareholder, Neil Rankine, on Thursday ahead of an attempt to have £311,000 in funds arrested at a court hearing on 23 December. Nixon accused Rankine of seeking to “blacken his name” and refuted the suggestion that he was solely behind the undeclared bonus scandal which saw Livingston deducted five points and left them anchored to the foot of the Championship.

Rankine, meanwhile, contends a courtroom triumph for Nixon would place the financial future of Livingston in peril. In a further twist on Friday evening, Livingston’s club secretary, Carolyn Summers, resigned her post.

All the while, it is hard to shake the feeling that manager John McGlynn and his players are unfortunate casualties of this situation, caught in the crossfire of a personal feud while attempting to stave off the spectre of relegation.

However, the chance to focus solely on football provided little respite yesterday, as a solitary strike from Blair Alston, pictured, secured a deserved win for Falkirk.

“We would rather none of the off-the-pitch stuff was happening, but we just need to get on with it. We don’t talk about it and try not to get involved,” said McGlynn.

“It will pan out in the next wee while and I’m sure everything will come out in the wash. I will focus on the football side of things.”

Prior to taking the lead, the Bairns had already served Livi with several warning shots, most notably coming from Will Vaulks, who rattled the post with a ferocious drive from 25 yards.

Falkirk’s opener was a neat illustration of the passing pretensions which, on their day, make Peter Houston’s side a delight to watch. Luke Leahy, Tom Taiwo and Alston produced a fine exchange to set the latter free inside the box and, following another swift one-two with Taiwo, Alston curled a sumptuous effort into Darren Jamieson’s far corner.

The woodwork came to Livi’s rescue again, with Jamieson showing marvellous reflexes to tip David McCracken’s point-blank header on to the post.