Livingston got back to winning ways on a chilly Friday night, recording a 2-0 win away to Raith Rovers at Starks Park. A second half double from Robbie Muirhead gave the Lions the three points and maintained Davie Martindale’s unbeaten start to life back in the Livi dugout.

Martindale made three changes from the side that drew with Inverness on Saturday, with Jack Wilkie, Bruce Anderson and Liam Polworth making way for Scott Pittman, Cammy Palmer and Cristian Montano.

Livingston appeared under the cosh from the injury depleted hosts, who could only name a bench of three and no back up goalkeeper, struggling to maintain possession under a Rovers team intent on making a sharp start to the match. The Lions soon warmed however and Bradly Van Hoeven caught keeper Josh Rae in possession, causing a scare to the home crowd but ultimately unable to force an effort.

The same couldn’t be said for Robbie Muirhead, who on nine minutes got on the end of some slack defending in the box. One-on-one, he lifted the ball over the stranded Rae, but his effort bounced off the top of the bar and out of a goal kick.

It was game played by two teams that clearly wished they had an international break, with the overall pace and quality lacking. With 22 minutes on the clock, George Oakley was gifted the best chance of the game so far. Scott Pittman fluffed his lines in passing the ball back to Jerome Prior, with Oakley intercepting through one-on-one. It was the Rover’s number 9s turn to make a mistake though, his shot driven right at Prior who saved comfortably.

The Lions had a huge chance of their own just minutes later, with Montano breaking down the left wing, sending an early cross to the back of the box. Nodded down by Palmer, it fell to Van Hoeven whose shot was blocked. During the second phase of play, Van Hoeven collected the ball from Ryan McGowan, finding Muirhead in the box, his effort high over the bar.

It was Ty Sinclair’s turn to have a go at the Raith defence, receiving the ball on the edge of the box he chopped onto his right foot, his shot ricocheting off a Raith leg and looping over the bar for a corner which came to nothing.

Raith almost took the lead on 29 minutes, following a great cross from the left that made its way to back post. The shot wasn’t clean and Prior had to scramble to get a hand to it, pushing it into the path of Arron Lyall who smashed the ball into the side netting.

It took under a minute of the restart for the Lions to take the lead. Prior got the ball down early for Montano to stride forward. Linking up with Van Hoeven, he then cut the ball back to a waiting Muirhead who dispatched beautifully into the bottom corner to give Livi a one goal advantage.

And on the hour mark, Livi had a huge opportunity from the penalty spot. The ball fell to Muirhead on the edge of the box, who unleashed a fierce shot that looked goal bound, but for the hands of Lyall. Referee Duncan Nicolson had no choice but to point to the spot, and Muirhead stepped up and smashed the ball down the right, sending Rae the wrong way to double his and Livi’s tally.

It turned into game management for Raith Rovers who changed their shape and introduced Lewis Stevenson into the back line. The change allowed Livi to play with more freedom, although they looked vulnerable to a counter attack, which Raith were trying to exploit.

With 15 minutes left to play Livi got a free kick on the right edge of the box. Sinclair stepped up and curled it right footed around the wall forcing a good save from Rae.

From the resultant throw in, Muirhead thought he had scored his hat trick. Stevie May’s effort was partially blocked, and it fell to Muirhead who smashed it into the net, but the referee blew for a foul in the build up, much to bemusement of the Livi number 9 and the fans behind the goal.

Raith turned the pressure up themselves in their hunt for a goal almost got it. A crossed ball from the right found Oakley who provided a deft touch to send the ball on to Zak Delaney, who couldn’t get the ball down to get a shot away. It was instead rolled to the edge of the box where Kyle Turner looked to drive the ball home, but was blocked superbly by Emmanuel Danso.

Rovers kept the pressure on as Livi took their foot off the gas, and with three minutes of added time, the referee decided he had seen enough and called time, moving the Lions up to third place in the league going into their home game against Ayr next Saturday.

Match report: David Hastie

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