Loons Lament Livi's Luck

Livingston 3 Forfar Athletic 0

The score line may suggest that this was a straightforward home victory as part of Livingston’s relentless march to the title, but this could hardly have been further from the truth.  The end result flattered a Livi side who spent a fair part of the game – especially in the first half - playing second fiddle to some strong and neat play by the Loons.  A soft penalty, a defensive mix up and a dubious challenge on the Forfar keeper were where the goals came from, although the Loons could only blame themselves for not getting the ball in the net in the periods of the game when they were in the ascendency.

The home side were gifted the lead after only five minutes when referee Somers awarded a penalty for a challenge by Campbell on Jacobs.  It looked, for all to see, like the Forfar defender got a foot on the ball to dispossess Jacobs, but when the number eight hit the turf the inevitable happened.  Russell stepped up to put the ball low into the net via the right hand post even though Gallacher wasn’t too far away from getting something on the ball.  For the remainder of the first half it was all Forfar.  Bishop hooked a shot against the post, Bullock saved brilliantly from Fotheringham after a Gibson cut-back, and Somers ignored the fact that Brady was pulled down in the home box.  Fortunately for the Lions the Livi goal remained intact going into the break.

The home side came more into the game in the second period but this did not deter Forfar from continuing to build from the back and play some really good football all over the park.  Hilson and Deasley caused all sorts of problems for the home defence with their pace in wide areas but the Loons lacked a cutting edge when it really mattered.  Livi went two goals up against the run of play when an uncharacteristic mix-up in the Forfar box allowed De Vita to toe poke the ball into the roof of the net.  Forfar continued to push forward and Ross had a goal-bound effort blocked in the home box.  Sellars also saw his fierce shot charged down as Forfar looked to get a goal back.  Hilson had Bullock in all sorts of bother when he tried a speculative effort from out on the left, but the Livi keeper just managed to palm the ball over at the back post.  Unbelievably, as the game drew to a close, Livi scored a third when a free kick into the Forfar box saw Gallacher let the ball escape his grasp for Winters to poke it home for an undeserved goal.  There was still time for Forfar to threaten, and Bullock had to look sharp to palm away a ferocious Fotheringham free kick.

At full time it was hard to believe that Forfar had taken nothing from the game, but hitting the back of the net wins points and judging by the Loons’ performance it won’t be long before they are back to doing just that.

Match Report by Cameron Davidson