Saturday 17th September 2011 – Ross County FC 1-1 Livingston FC
On the back of the home draw with Falkirk, the Lions made the longest trip they'll make in the league as they travelled North to Victoria Park to take on Ross County.
Bobby Barr and Jonathan Brown had to make do with places on the bench as Kyle Jacobs and David Sinclair came into the team.
Ross County, who's squad is complete with seven ex-Livi players, aswell as ex-Livi midfielder Derek Adams as manager, started brightly and looked the likeliest to open the scoring. Rocco Quinn was first to try his luck but fired a 20 yard effort high over the bar after some good work out wide by Iain Vigurs. Soon afterwards Mark Corcoran's overhead kick attempt appeared to strike Craig Barr's arm in the box as he attempted to clear but the referee waved play on before Grant Munro shot into a pack of defenders.
Top scorer Iain Russell was first to have an effort at the Ross County goal but he dragged his shot wide of the post after working hard to create a shooting opportunity.
Totally against the run of play and the Lions found themselves a goal up. Sinclair's free-kick from the left travelled deep to the back post where Kyle Jacobs rose highest to head past Michael Fraser in the County goal.
With only 5 minutes to go until half-time, Gary Bollan would have been happy to see his team head into the break with a one-goal advantage. This wasn't to be however as another questionable penalty decision gave the opponent a chance to get back in the game. Corcoran played a one-two with Vigurs and as he ran into the box, he fell to the ground after going shoulder to shoulder with Stefan Scougall. The referee deemed the challenge to be a foul and awarded the penalty. Former Livi captain Richie Brittain stepped up and sent McNeill the wrong way to level the game on 44 minutes.
Shortly after the break, Scougall nearly made amends by grabbing a goal. Liam Fox played the ball over the top and with Fraser rushing out of his goal, Scougall dinked the ball over him but Munro managed to get there first and headed the ball off the line and out for a corner.
Both teams were started to create chances and putting on show a real end-to-end second-half. A Vigurs free-kick was comfortably saved by McNeill while down the other end, Russell had a shot at chipping Fraser too but the keeper was able to save easily.
Vigurs was proving to be a real danger to Livi and he sent a glancing header just wide of the post after a good cross from Quinn. He then looked to turn provider and whipped in a dangerous free-kick but no County players got there and McNeil managed to punch clear.
Colin McMenamin then missed County's best chance of a goal. A brilliant cross from Marc Fitzpatrick found McMenamin unmarked and in acres of space at the back-post but he somehow managed to head well wide when it looked easier to score.
The game was to then take a somewhat sour note. An off the ball incident occurred between Craig Barr and Steven Craig. Despite the referee, and most others nearby not noticing anything, the linesman signalled for the referee's attention and after a brief word, a red card was shown and Craig was given his marching orders, giving the Lions a one-man advantage for the 6th time this season already. Craig was riled by this and had to be held back by his own team-mates as he vented his anger in the direction of the linesman.
Unfortunately this decision appeared to weigh on the mind of the referee and only 60 seconds later, he evened up the numbers. A high punt forward from Miller was challenged in the air by McMenamin and Watson and as both came back to the ground, the referee somehow adjudged Watson to have fouled the County front-man and showed him his second yellow card of the day and he joined Craig in having an early bath.
Having to re-shuffle things with the loss of Watson, Johnny Brown replaced Deuchar and instantly offered another attacking option. Straight away, his cross from the left found the head of Russell but he could only head straight at Fraser. Brown then had a chance of his own after being fed in by Russell but his low shot was saved by Fraser's legs and cleared to safety. Livi were piling on the pressure and Scougall tried a 25 yard effort but again, it was straight down the throat of Fraser.
There was still time for one more bit of controversy as McMenamin was bundled over in the box. Craig Barr's chest pass back towards McNeill was a bit short and as the 'keeper stretched to get there, McMenamin fell to the ground. The referee was instant in his decision – booking the striker for diving.
The final chance of the game fell to Russell and after turning his man in the box, his shot was again saved by the impressive Fraser and both teams had to settle for a share of the spoils.
Wednesday 21 September 2011
Friday 16 September 2011
‘Cup Run’ or ‘Cup Rubbish’?
As a Livingston fan, some of the best games I’ve been to have involved Livi in the cup. Winning the CIS Cup, beating Sturm Graz in the UEFA Cup, a long trip to Aberdeen to dump them out of the Scottish Cup – that’s only to name a few.
Even watching games on TV, cup ties have always had an extra bit of spice to them – take Inverness beating Celtic (twice!) or Liverpool’s famous Champions League final comeback against AC Milan. Another couple of fixtures which wouldn’t have normally been possible or probably not half as exciting had they been a regular occurrence. The lure of the cup has always added an edge to games.
However, it’s becoming more and more of a regular thing to see cup games treated as a break for clubs with senior players being rested in favour of blooding in the kids.
Take this seasons Carling Cup as an example. The three teams newly promoted to the EPL – Norwich, QPR & Swansea, were all knocked out at the first hurdle after playing the games with a ‘weakened’ team. The reasoning behind it, for those three anyway, is that surviving in the top flight is the main priority and as such, the cup doesn’t mean anything.
There may be something in that given that Birmingham, who won last seasons Carling Cup, were relegated from the EPL in doing so. On the flipside however, they got a trophy in their cabinet, a night of massive celebrations in Brum and entry into this seasons Europa League. A fair sacrifice?
What happens if the three newly promoted sides are all relegated this season anyway (which is a good possibility)? Not only do the fans suffer a season of constant defeat domestically, but they didn’t even get any form of cup run to keep their mind of it.
I know from watching Livi struggle in the SPL that when it came to cup matches, there was a sense of playing without any pressure. The players seemed to know that they could relax a bit and play football without fearing slipping further behind the teams infront.
Where will it stop? Even in Europe’s biggest club competition, the Champions League, Manchester United were resting players in order to save them for the weekends big league match against rivals Chelsea. They play all season to win the league and qualify for these tournaments, only to then rest players for group games in order to stay fresh for the league. Spurs, likewise, fielded players that their own fans had never heard of because old ‘Arry doesn’t rate the Europa league and is solely focussed on a 4th place finish to ensure Champions League football next season.
What about the fans who spent their hard earned money on flights and match tickets to travel to Portugal and Greece to back their sides, only to see a weakened team fielded because the game wasn’t deemed important enough by the managers? Likewise the Swansea fans who made near 6 hour round-trip to Shrewsbury, mid-week, to see their team knocked-out because of team selection.
I think, in Europe, the solution is moving back to the old-school style of knockout matches from the word go. Knockout would definitely make teams treat ties more seriously, knowing that they could quite easily be out the competition entirely if they weren’t taking it seriously in early rounds. It will never happen now though because of the money made from group games and the seeded nature which angles towards helping the big teams survive as long as possible.
I’m all for bleeding in the youngsters and giving them a chance but is it really beneficial to them to get chucked into a first round league cup match only to get blootered off the park and knocked out the cup by some low league side?
I’d love to see Livi win a cup again and given that we’ve made it into the Ramsdens Cup semi-final already this season, hopefully it’ll be sooner rather than later.
Even watching games on TV, cup ties have always had an extra bit of spice to them – take Inverness beating Celtic (twice!) or Liverpool’s famous Champions League final comeback against AC Milan. Another couple of fixtures which wouldn’t have normally been possible or probably not half as exciting had they been a regular occurrence. The lure of the cup has always added an edge to games.
However, it’s becoming more and more of a regular thing to see cup games treated as a break for clubs with senior players being rested in favour of blooding in the kids.
Take this seasons Carling Cup as an example. The three teams newly promoted to the EPL – Norwich, QPR & Swansea, were all knocked out at the first hurdle after playing the games with a ‘weakened’ team. The reasoning behind it, for those three anyway, is that surviving in the top flight is the main priority and as such, the cup doesn’t mean anything.
There may be something in that given that Birmingham, who won last seasons Carling Cup, were relegated from the EPL in doing so. On the flipside however, they got a trophy in their cabinet, a night of massive celebrations in Brum and entry into this seasons Europa League. A fair sacrifice?
What happens if the three newly promoted sides are all relegated this season anyway (which is a good possibility)? Not only do the fans suffer a season of constant defeat domestically, but they didn’t even get any form of cup run to keep their mind of it.
I know from watching Livi struggle in the SPL that when it came to cup matches, there was a sense of playing without any pressure. The players seemed to know that they could relax a bit and play football without fearing slipping further behind the teams infront.
Where will it stop? Even in Europe’s biggest club competition, the Champions League, Manchester United were resting players in order to save them for the weekends big league match against rivals Chelsea. They play all season to win the league and qualify for these tournaments, only to then rest players for group games in order to stay fresh for the league. Spurs, likewise, fielded players that their own fans had never heard of because old ‘Arry doesn’t rate the Europa league and is solely focussed on a 4th place finish to ensure Champions League football next season.
What about the fans who spent their hard earned money on flights and match tickets to travel to Portugal and Greece to back their sides, only to see a weakened team fielded because the game wasn’t deemed important enough by the managers? Likewise the Swansea fans who made near 6 hour round-trip to Shrewsbury, mid-week, to see their team knocked-out because of team selection.
I think, in Europe, the solution is moving back to the old-school style of knockout matches from the word go. Knockout would definitely make teams treat ties more seriously, knowing that they could quite easily be out the competition entirely if they weren’t taking it seriously in early rounds. It will never happen now though because of the money made from group games and the seeded nature which angles towards helping the big teams survive as long as possible.
I’m all for bleeding in the youngsters and giving them a chance but is it really beneficial to them to get chucked into a first round league cup match only to get blootered off the park and knocked out the cup by some low league side?
I’d love to see Livi win a cup again and given that we’ve made it into the Ramsdens Cup semi-final already this season, hopefully it’ll be sooner rather than later.
Thursday 15 September 2011
Livingston 1-1 Falkirk
Saturday 10th September 2011 – Livingston FC 1-1 Falkirk FC
After negotiating our passage to the semi-finals of the Ramsdens Cup thanks to a difficult quarter-final win at Sheilfield, it was back to league business for the Lions. With our last home match giving us our only win in the league so far, Gary Bollan and the boys were keen to repeat that success against Steven Pressley’s Falkirk side.
There were three changes to our starting eleven from the Berwick match. Cammy MacDonald made way for the fit again Craig Barr, captain Liam Fox joined Stefan Scougall in the middle of the park at the expense of David Sinclair and Kenny Deuchar was the preferred strike partner for Iain Russell, with Rory Boulding taking a place on the bench.
Livi started the game brightly and Russell could have added to his already impressive tally for the season early on. Jason Talbot’s cross from the left wing was headed back across the face of the goal from target man Deuchar but despite getting there first, Russell side-footed the ball high over the bar from 7 yards out. Shortly after, Bobby Barr provided Russell with another chance to find the net. Fox’s deft ball over the top found Barr on the right and after checking into the middle, he slipped the ball through the back-line but Russell couldn’t find a way past Falkirk ‘keeper McGovern and had to settle for a corner-kick.
Falkirk soon stepped up their game and tried to force themselves into the lead too. Kallum Higginbotham’s cross from the right found the impressive youngster Craig Sibbald but his low drive at goal was blocked by Craig Barr.
Russell was next to try and break the deadlock, and he came agonisingly close with a spectacular long-range effort. Paul Watson’s headed clearance reached Deuchar in the middle of the park and he sent Russell through on the goal. After taking a touch to steady himself, he rifled a thunderbolt towards the Falkirk goal which McGovern did excellently top tip over the bar.
With only 38 minutes on the clock, Falkirk were reduced to 10 men. After being chased down and dispossessed by Russell and Scougall in the middle of the park, midfielder Stewart Murdoch lunged through the back of Scougall and was shown a straight red by referee Craig Thomson. There was little complaint from Murdoch or any of the other Falkirk players and luckily for Livingston, Scougall was able to get up and continue playing.
Despite the sending-off, Falkirk finished the half as the stronger side and had two long-range efforts from Higginbotham and Dale Fulton well saved by Andy McNeill. Higginbotham turn and shot from out wide was tipped over for a corner and Fulton’s 25-yard effort was comfortably held.
The second-half kicked-off with Livingston dominating. Bobby Barr came closest to opening the scoring but after latching on to Deuchar’s lay-off, his shot clipped the outside of the post and away to safety with McGovern well beaten. Fox was next to spurn a good opportunity. Deuchar nodded down another high ball forward from Craig Barr, but the skipper thumped his shot wide.
Falkirk weren’t letting their one-man disadvantage stop them from getting forward and Mark Millar riffled a 25-yard effort just over the bar midway through the half.
However, with 70 minutes gone, the deadlock was finally broken. Liam Fox found right-back Johnny Brown down the wing and he fired a cross into the box. Defender Darren Dods got to the ball first but his attempted clearances deflected to the front-post where Iain Russell was on hand to slam the ball into the net and give the Lions the lead.
It was nothing more than both Livi and Russell deserved and given the extra man, you could forgive the home support for thinking that Falkirk would be down and out. Quite the opposite happened though as the Bairns created the next couple of chances. Farid El Alagui curled a long-range shot inches over the bar and David Weatherston forced a decent save from McNeill.
Livingston were then denied what appeared to be a stonewall penalty. Sinclair’s free-kick was passed inside to Keaghan Jacobs and he found Russell in the box. As he looked to skip between Falkirk’s two central defenders, he was tripped by an outstretched leg and hit the deck. Thomson waved away the claims from numerous Livi players and the ball was cleared to safety.
As if not already riled enough by that, Thomson’s next decision was to enrage the home team even more. Murray Wallace’s high pass forward appeared to be too long for El Alagui but as he and Paul Watson both jumped for the ball, El Alagui tumbled to the ground and in doing so, won his side a penalty. Midfielder Mark Millar stepped up and rolled the ball into the bottom corner for the equaliser, despite the best efforts of McNeill.
It was a sucker-punch for the Lions who looked to be on course for another home win.
The match ended on a sour note with the dismissal of Higginbotham for what appeared to be head-butt on Bobby Barr. The two clashed after Barr had fouled Higginbotham and as they squared up, Thomson had no doubt in his mind and sent the Falkirk man off. There was no time for Livi to take advantage though and the teams shared the spoils.
http://www.livingstonfc.co.uk/news/news_20110910_1.php
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