Brooklyn Kabongolo’s late header rescued a point for Livingston in a scrappy Premiership encounter with St Mirren, as Marvin Bartley’s side extended their unbeaten run and continued to show signs of growing resilience in the closing stretch of the season.

Momentum can be fragile in the Premiership, yet Livingston felt theirs had begun to take shape following a positive result against Rangers, as St Mirren arrived in West Lothian this weekend.

Encouraging performances in recent weeks have suggested a side growing increasingly comfortable under Marvin Bartley, with improved structure and resilience becoming more evident with each outing.

The draw against Rangers reinforced that progress — not only in defensive discipline, notably from Jérôme Prior and Brooklyn Kabongolo, but also in the collective belief throughout the squad.

Yet the Premiership offers little time to reflect. St Mirren arrived with organisation and intensity of their own, presenting a different examination to the one Livingston faced last weekend. This fixture provided an opportunity to demonstrate that recent improvements could be sustained.

For Livingston, the objective was clear: build momentum quietly, accumulate points steadily as the season entered its final stretch, and ensure that promising signs evolved into tangible movement up the table.

St Mirren, meanwhile, arrived on the back of a difficult run, having suffered three consecutive defeats against Kilmarnock, Hibernian and, most recently, a heavy 5–0 loss at home to Motherwell.

Scott Arfield, Samson Lawal, Josh Zimmerman and Aiden Denholm remained sidelined with hamstring injuries. Connor McLennan was also unavailable with an ankle issue.

Livingston were without Cristian Montaño, suspended following his red card against Rangers. He was replaced in the line-up by Babacar Fati, the only change made by Marvin Bartley.

St Mirren received a boost with Richard King’s red card rescinded after appeal, though Jonah Ayunga and Malik Dijksteel both missed out through injury.

Stephen Robinson made several changes and reverted back to his trusted 3-5-2 after last week’s heavy defeat. Marcus Fraser, Jayden Richardson, Keanu Baccus, Scott Tanser, Dan Nlundulu and Mikael Mandron came in for Richard King, Declan John, Jacob Devaney, Roland Idowu, Conor McMenamin and Jake Young.

After some even early exchanges, St Mirren won a free kick which was delivered into the Livingston box but dealt with by the home defence. Livingston made a breakthrough through Lewis Smith, but his low cross into the box narrowly missed Scott Pittman, who was sliding in at the far post.

Scott Tanser crossed well into the Livingston box and Jayden Richardson met it with a looping header that crashed off the bar. In the early stages, Livingston were comfortably dealing with St Mirren’s forays forward.

Livingston came close after a long clearance from Jérôme Prior was missed by the St Mirren defence, allowing Robbie Muirhead in behind, but he fired over the bar from the edge of the box.

Halfway through the first half, the scores remained level with very little action in front of goal.

Following a free kick on the edge of the Livingston box, the ball fell to Mark O’Hara, whose looping effort landed on the roof of the net.

Neither side found the wet conditions easy to handle, with frequent exchanges of possession and little end product resulting in a stop-start contest punctuated by minor fouls from both teams.

Alex Gogic made a mistake with a header which fell short, allowing Lewis Smith Livingston’s first clear opportunity and forcing a good low save from Shamal George.

After early St Mirren pressure, Livingston began to grow into the game with sustained attacks deep inside the visitors’ half.

There was a scramble on the edge of the Livingston box where it appeared the ball may have been handled by a St Mirren player. The ball then broke on the right to Mikael Mandron, who found Dan Nlundulu with a measured cross, and he headed past a motionless Jérôme Prior. The goal stood after a brief VAR check. 1–0 to St Mirren.

Early in the second half, with Babacar Fati down injured, St Mirren delivered another ball into the box, but it was comfortably collected by Prior. Fati attempted to continue but went down again moments later, resulting in an early stoppage.

After a good interception, the ball broke to Lewis Smith inside the box and he was brought down, but the referee waved play on to the frustration of the home supporters.

Dan Nlundulu twisted and turned his way into the box, but his effort was well saved by Prior.

A throw-in from the right was helped on to the edge of the St Mirren box, where Babacar Fati met it, volleying high over the bar.

Despite attacking substitutions, with Barrie McKay, Joel Nouble and Jeremy Bokila introduced, Livingston struggled to meaningfully test Shamal George.

A deep cross from McKay was met by Brooklyn Kabongolo, who for the second consecutive game found the net with a well-placed header into the bottom-right corner to level the match at 1–1.

A period of sustained pressure down the right led to neat link-up play between Daniel Finlayson and Jerome Bokila, eventually finding Joel Nouble, who fired over from the edge of the box.

Sustained late pressure and a succession of corners could not produce a winner, and after a lengthy stoppage for treatment to Mandron, the match concluded level.

The points were shared in a scrappy encounter, but Livingston extended their unbeaten run and recorded a third consecutive draw. Defensive solidity continues to underpin their recent progress, with clear signs of improvement as the season moves towards its conclusion.

Match report: Alastair Hogg

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