Livingston 0-1 Raith Rovers: Scott haunts Livi

MARTIN Scott’s first goal for Raith Rovers was enough to earn the visitors a deserved three points against his former club.

The Raith midfielder scored against his former club. Picture: Ian Georgeson

Scott spent the 2013-14 season with Livingston, scoring five times, but his impressive form in a gold shirt hadn’t yet transferred to Kirkcaldy. Yesterday’s performance was more of what Championship crowds have come to expect from the bustling midfielder, who enthusiastically supported the strikers from kick-off and got his reward on 15 minutes.

Drifting inside from an unfamiliar role on the right, Scott controlled Ryan Conroy’s pass before flicking the ball past the advancing Darren Jamieson. He then decided against the recent trend of players refusing to celebrate against their former clubs by tearing away down the sideline and embracing his new boss Grant Murray.

“He certainly enjoyed it, but then Jimmy [Scott] loves his football,” said a smiling Murray after the match. “We stressed the importance of getting ourselves ahead. Once we had done that I think it gave us the belief needed. The pressure that we had to deal with I thought we dealt with it well, and we could have caught Livingston a couple of times on the break.”

Instead of adding to their lead, the visitors found Jamieson in inspired form. The keeper made three outstanding stops in the second half, including a one-handed penalty save from Calum Elliot, that gave Livingston a chance of rescuing something.

But, even though they forced Raith to defend deep in their own half, the hosts couldn’t create a clear cut chance.

“I thought we dominated the second half, we just couldn’t get that goal,” boss John McGlynn lamented after the match. “We may even have played better than we did last week [when they defeated Alloa 4-0]. I couldn’t blame the players for their effort and commitment, maybe just the decision-making in the final third that would have gotten us a goal.”