WE ARE GOING UP!

Livingston fired themselves back to the Scottish Premiership at the first time of asking following a 4-2 win over Ross County in the Premiership Playoff Finals at Dingwall. The Lions found themselves two down in the first half thanks to goals from Josh Nisbet and Ronan Hale, but mounted a monumental comeback to win the tie 5-3 on aggregate; Lewis Smith, Danny Wilson, Robbie Muirhead and Tete Yengi the heroes.

There was only one change to the team that drew with County four days ago, with Dan Finlayson taking the place of Macaulay Tait in the starting eleven.

Livi had an early half chance with two minutes on the clock, Robbie Fraser crossing the ball from the left, falling at the feet of Cristian Montano, his shot blocked well and cleared.

However it would be the hosts that had the ball in the net first. With seven minutes on the clock, Ronan Hale collected the ball on the left-hand side, with a hint of offside, slipping the ball into Josh Nisbet who tapped the ball home from close range to give County the lead. VAR did check the goal, judging there to be no offside, and the strong home support celebrated once more.

It was slightly against the run of play and Livi continued to apply pressure on the home team. A corner for the Lions was cleared only as far as Jamie Brandon and the ball sat up perfectly for him to strike from just outside the box, his shot whistling over the bar and into the Jail End.

And Scott Pittman also grabbed the leveller himself on 14 minutes. The ball found its way to his feet following a number of ricochets, and the midfielder jinked and moved the ball to his left foot, dragging his shot wide of the right post.

It was another chance for Livi on 17 minutes too, Pittman expertly controlling a ball clipped over the top to him. It was nudged into the path of Lewis Smith who crossed the ball into the box, almost sneaking in at the back post, forcing Akil Wright to clear for a corner which came to nothing.

Half through the second half, County doubled their lead after a mistake from Stephen Kelly. Playing the ball along the backline, Kelly slipped in possession, gifting the ball to Ronan Hale who made no mistake slotting the ball to the right of Prior for 2-0 County.

Livi were yet again putting pressure on County, with a host of corners for the most part being dealt with well by the defence, although Danny Wilson did direct a strong header on target which forced a tidy save from Jordan Amissah.

Livi grabbed the goal they deserved five minutes to the half, all thanks to a piece of individual brilliance from Lewis Smith. The winger received the ball in the middle of the park, and managed to evade a barrage of tackles to drive into the County box before lashing the ball home into the bottom right-hand corner to reduce the deficit to one.

The visitors were trying to grab the equaliser prior to the half time whistle, with Montano forcing a stretched save from Amissah, Lewis Smith the provider.

Into the second half and it took seconds for the Lions to record their first chance. The ball was being passed well on the edge of the box, allowing Smith to tee up a shot which was deflected and just over the bar for a corner which was cleared.

County themselves weren’t resting on their laurels and could have regained their two-goal lead six minutes into the second half. Hale played through Nisbet who was free on the left side, driving into the box and flashing his shot wide.

And on 57 minutes, Livi were level. A poor tackle from Will Nightingale gave Livi a freekick on the edge of the box. It was drilled low by Muirhead causing Amissah to spill right into the path of Wilson. HIs first effort was saved beautifully, however it rebounded right back to him to allow him to head home, and following a lengthy VAR check, were awarded the goal.

It was momentum Livi, and they made it count just two minutes later. Muirhead lofted the ball into the box trying to find Montano at the back post. It was cleared but only as far as the Livingston Fans Player of the Year, who took a touch inside, bending the ball into the top left corner sending the 600 Livi fans behind the goal into raptures.

It was now upto County to respond and they almost did, but for an incredible save from Jerome Prior. Connor Randall was played cleared through and tried to poke the ball past the Frenchman, but he was on hand to make a smart save to keep the hosts out.

It was all Livi though and the away end were willing their team on for more. Everything the team in yellow touched was turning to gold, with Lewis Smith in particular having a great game. He found space on the right of the box and played in Muirhead, however his strike was with the wrong side of his foot and skewed out for throw in to County.

It was sub Tete Yengi’s turn to get ab effort on goal with six minutes of regulation time left. A corner from Kelly found the Aussie at the back post. Nodding across the face of goal it looked like it was going to drop into the net however ended up being headed clear by a Ross County defender.

Ross County were down but they weren’t and were forcing all sorts of pressure on the Livi defence. A corner to the back post was met by a County head, with Ryan McGowan blocking essentially on the line, even if he didn’t really know much about it.

But as the seconds ticked by, County were getting more desperate, which resulted in more mistakes, allowing Livi easy territory in the home half. And moving into six minutes added time, it was hit and hope for County, Livi trying their best to keep the ball in the corner, although this in itself was proving difficult.

With seconds on the clock, Tete Yengi got the ball clean through on goal, fired the ball passed Amissah to cause a spill of fans onto the pitch, with Nick Walsh blowing for full time before the chaos cleared.

Match report: David Hastie

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