Unusual activity in West Lothian - Livingston lose a football match
Yes, it had been that long since Livingston last lost. There were few witnesses to this latest sighting of paranormal activity in West Lothian but it really did happen. Not since 21 November last year, when Livingston fell 1-0 to St Mirren, have they suffered a reversal, 15 games ago.
This was particularly hard to bear for the home team since it has additional connotations. The same sides meet again in the Betfred Cup final later this month. St Johnstone have drawn first blood if winning a league game three weeks before the showpiece occasion means anything at all.
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Hide AdGoals from Scott Tanser, from a free-kick, and Shaun Rooney either side of half-time put St Johnstone in a commanding position.
David Martindale will have been particularly discombobulated by all this. He has not lost a match as manager in senior football. The loss ought to have been more emphatic, but Stevie May saw his penalty brilliantly saved by Max Stryjek after 78 minutes.
A Scott Pittman header with eight minutes left gave Livingston hope they could save the match and preserve their manager’s remarkable record. After all, they recently scored twice in the dying moments against Kilmarnock to take all three points.
Martindale was out of miracles here. He made three changes to the line-up that had beaten Aberdeen last midweek, a team-sheet which itself showed five changes to the side that had drawn 0-0 against the same opponents a few days earlier.
It is less a matter of Martindale showing off and more a sensible use of resources, with another game to come against Hamilton Accies as soon as Wednesday. The Livi manager can do little wrong at present but, for once, his tactical decisions here did not pay off.
He made a further alteration at half-time here when bringing on the powerful Jay Emmanuel-Thomas for Alan Forrest at half-time. St Johnstone were imposing their will on Livingston in the opening 45 minutes.
The half-time change was a reaction to Livingston losing a goal with the last significant kick of the first half. This strike was particularly satisfying for the visitors since it was sourced from a free-kick on the edge of the box after a clumsy Aaron Taylor-Sinclair challenge on Chris Kane.
The same players were involved in what looked a far more serious clash inside the opening couple of minutes. Taylor-Sinclair escaped a booking on that occasion. Nothing came of the free-kick.
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Hide AdSt Johnstone enjoyed taking maximum advantage of the later foul, for which the Livingston defender was booked. Tanser noticed Stryjek had left too much room at his near post. It was just a matter of lifting his kick over the wall and into the corner, which he did.
Another free-kick five minutes after the interval gave Liam Craig the chance to put the ball into the box and Rooney rose highest to glance the ball into the corner.
Pittman scored what proved a consolation goal after earlier conceding a penalty, for a high boot on Rooney. May, a 69th minute substitute for Guy Melamed, struck his effort cleanly enough but Stryjek was the measure of it with a superb one-handed save.