Ten-man Livingston netted a late equaliser as they battled to a 1-1 draw with Motherwell in their final home game of the season.

The Lions were hit early on as Kevin van Veen netted just three minutes in, while the hosts were forced to play the entire second-half a man down as Shamal George saw red for clattering the Dutchman as he raced out of goal.

A spirited effort after the break saw the home side rewarded as Nicky Devlin’s lung-bursting run took him beyond the defence with the skipper teeing up Andrew Shinnie for an 84th minute equaliser.

Livingston boss David Martindale made three changes to the side that beat Dundee United at the weekend, with both Tom Parkes and Jamie Brandon handed their first starts of the season.

They got off to the worst possible start as Mikael Mandron teed up van Veen to slam beyond Shamal George as the Dutch ace was afforded far too much space inside the box.

Livi grew into the contest with Bruce Anderson and Stephen Kelly linking up well on a couple of occasions with the midfielder twice going close – dragging one effort wide while fizzing another narrowly over the crossbar.

Any momentum the hosts had was wiped out just before the break as Shamal George raced out of his goal and clattered into van Veen as the Dutchman was flagged for offside. Chris Graham originally gave a yellow card but following a lengthy five-minute VAR check that decision was cancelled and the stopper ordered off.

To their credit, the hosts gave as good as they got in the second-half despite being a man down and continued to send men forward – albeit with little success. Luiyi de Lucas was unable to connect properly from the edge of the box and his strike trundled through harmlessly to Kelly while departing skipper Nicky Devlin was unable to pull the trigger and mark his final home appearance for the Lions with a goal.

At the other end, Sean Kelly had to be inch perfect with a diving challenge to thwart Mandron as the striker looked set to fire at goal.

Livi’s perseverance would be rewarded six minutes from time as Devlin raced on to a ball over the top, beat his defender and rolled a pass across the face of goal for Shinnie to slam home and seal a deserved draw.

Match Report: Callum Carson (Daily Record)

Livingston: George ▊, Devlin ©️ ▊, de Lucas, Parkes, Montaño ▊ (Penrice 81), Kelly, Omeonga, St.Kelly (Holt 45), Brandon (Hamilton 44), Nouble, Anderson (Shinnie 76)
Subs not used: Pittman, Bradley, Bahamboula, Guthrie
Goals: Shinnie (83)

Motherwell: Kelly, McGinn, Butcher (Mugabi 22), Blaney, O’Donnell (Johnston 85), Goss ▊ (Aitchison 86), Cornelius (Miller 86), Furlong, Spittal, Mandron (Obika 77), van Veen
Subs not used: Oxborough, McKinstry, Tierney, Ferrie
Goals: van Veen (3)

Referee: Chris Graham
HT: 0-1
Att:

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