Livingston 1-0 Rangers: Champions fail to fire again

Craig Halkett scores Livingston's winner against Rangers at Almondvale. Picture: PA Wire

With nothing at stake it is natural to lose focus. The focus the Ibrox men need only find is when it comes to the Scottish Cup final against Hibernian on 21 May. Yet every game since they clinched the Championship four outings ago has been truly of the sobering variety.

The Craig Halkett header on the stroke of the interval that condemned them to a fifth league defeat of the campaign came against a team that might not even be in the second tier next season. A team that had only beaten them once before, back in 2002. A reverse that followed on from the 1-1 draw on Saturday at home to an Alloa side already destined for League 1, and the defeat away to cup final  opponents Hibs last midweek.

The inauspicious nature of the confrontation made a trip to West Lothian on an unseasonably bitter night hold little appeal for many of the club’s supporters. Precisely why, on the approach roads in the lead-up to kick-off, it seemed that everywhere you looked there was a despairing punter trying in vain to rid themselves of a clutch of unsold tickets.

What was on the menu for Mark Warburton at the Tony Macaroni Arena was a helping of football for him and his Rangers team to get their teeth into only for the purposes of sustenance ahead of their Hampden date with destiny.

Yet, with that occasion so far in the distance, and so long after they conclude their league campaign at  St Mirren on Sunday, the  Ibrox manager wasn’t so fixated on the Hampden date to set-out his team accordingly. Michael O’Halloran was installed at centre forward despite the fact he isn’t eligible to play against the Easter Road men.

Livingston, as with their visitors, had nothing really to play for but crucial business before the season  concludes. For very different  reasons to Rangers.

At the weekend the Almondvale club were consigned to the relegation play-off place in the second tier. They will feature in the Championship play-off semi-finals next week as they attempt to save their skins in the division.

The irrelevant nature of the contest was betrayed by the mundanity that stalked it. Early on, O’Halloran flashed a drive inches wide after being sent through by Dom Ball, then Andy Halliday fizzed a free-kick just over.

The home side grew into the encounter, though.  Danny Mullen should have scored when released by Sam Stanton, but the striker tugged his effort wide with only Wes Foderingham to beat.

Another glaring opening was squandered by  David Hopkin’s men but  seconds before half-time they produced the goal they had started to threaten when defender Halkett hung in the air to net with a near-post header.

Notable was the fact that, in his first start, 16-year-old  Matthew Knox supplied the free-kick from which the deadlock-breaker ensued. Last month Rangers were reported to be preparing a £100,000 bid for an attacking player whose progress in the past 12 months is said to have pricked the interest of a number of English Premier League clubs, the left-side player having trained with Manchester United.

Knox was withdrawn before the end, which brought a messy, unproductive push for an equaliser from Rangers in keeping with their skittish efforts all evening.