Livingston 1 - 0 Hamilton Academical: Lions cubs claw way to third

A SINGLE goal beautifully taken by young Marc McNulty was enough to propel Livingston to clear third spot in the First Division.

They leapfrogged yesterday’s visitors and now sit just one point behind Falkirk, with leaders Ross County the next visitors to West Lothian.

The arrival to make the half-time draw by Leeds and Scotland player Robert Snodgrass, who started his career with Livingston, reminded the home fans that their club once found such talent, and if Livingston or Hamilton are ever to get back to the SPL, they must find more youngsters like Snodgrass.

Livingston are young enough, with the likes of McNulty, Kyle Jacobs, and Paul Watson barely out of their teens, and Keaghan Jacobs, Rory Boulding and Bobby Barr not much older – they make Kenny Deuchar look like Methuselah and he’s only 31. “Yes, they’re young,” said manager Gary Bollan afterwards, “but if they’re good enough, they’re old enough and they must aspire to the success of Snodgrass.”

A nervy start saw both sides make mistakes, but Livingston got going first, McNulty curling one over and wide after eight minutes. Five minutes later, Livi’s Mark Fotheringham clattered into Simon Mensing who shoved his tackler to the ground. Both were booked, though Mensing could have seen red.

Hamilton were very poor in the first half – “totally inept and embarassing,” said manager Billy Reid later – and Livingston pressed without creating much.

There was some sparkling end-to-end stuff around the half-hour mark, Bobby Barr’s pace troubling the Accies as he rounded David Hutton and shot into the side net. A Kevin McBride snapshot troubled Andrew NcNeil, and the Livingston goalkeeper could do nothing but watch Dougie Imrie’s 25-yard free-kick flying past his post, either side of two fine saves by Hutton.

Stefan Scougall replaced Keaghan Jacobs at half-time and the 18-year-old almost brought his side to grief with his first touch, Imrie pouncing on his guddle and sprinting away upfield where he fed Grant Anderson who looked sure to score until McNeil saved superbly at his feet.

The goal which the match had been crying out for came just seven minutes after the re-start. Fotheringham waltzed his way into the visitors’ box where the ball was cleared only as far as Rory Boulding. His curling cross was met by the diving McNulty, whose header flashed low past Hutton.

The visitors did finally rally but found McNeil in fine form. He’s not the biggest goalkeeper around, but he braved the attentions of the Accies’ big men several times, and referee John McKendrick rightly gave him protection, though a helpless McNeil was delighted after 80 minutes to see a Chambers shot deflect off Deuchar and go wide instead of inside his post.

In the dying minutes, Livingston went backs to the wall as Hamilton tried all they knew to gain the equaliser, though had McNulty squared to Deuchar instead of shooting at Hutton with three minutes to go, the home team could have relaxed on their way to a deserved win.