Livingston 1-0 Saints

The only goal of the game came on 35 minutes as Bahamboula cut in from the left before unleashing a right footed effort which took a deflection off Andy Considine to take the strike beyond Remi Matthews.

Next up for Saints is a trip to Edinburgh on Friday evening to take on Hibs at Easter Road, kick off 7:30pm.

MATCH REPORT

Saints were back on their travels today as they made the trip to West Lothian to take on Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena. Callum Davidson’s side suffered heartbreak last weekend as a stoppage time goal from Giorgos Giakoumakis saw Celtic defeat Saints 2-1 at McDiarmid Park and the Saints manager made two changes to his starting eleven this afternoon. Max Kucheriavyi dropped to the bench whilst Nicky Clark missed out altogether and they were replaced by Stevie May and Theo Bair. Livingston were also looking to bounce back after suffering defeat last Saturday as they lost 1-0 to Ross County at the Tony Macaroni Arena. There was one change to the Livi starting eleven this afternoon as manager David Martindale brought in Stephen Kelly to replace Andrew Shinnie who dropped to the bench.

It was a glorious sunny autumn afternoon in West Lothian as Jamie Murphy got the match underway for Saints. It was the Perth side who created the first chance of the match 15 seconds in as Murphy played in Stevie May but the left footed strike from the forward went narrowly wide.

Livi thought they had taken the lead on 6 minutes as good work from Dylan Moyo Bahamboula played in Kurtis Guthrie who slotted a low strike into the net however, play was pulled back as the forward was in an offside position.

Then 2 minutes later Saints were presented with a great chance as Nicky Devlin was short with his header back to Shamal George in the home goal and May nipped in and latched onto the ball however, George was out quick to deny the Saints forward. Play continued and James Brown cut in from the left before unleashing a thunderous strike which hit the underside of the cross bar before bouncing on the line. Sean Kelly then cleared the danger as the Saints players appealed that the ball had crossed the line which were dismissed by referee Kevin Clancy.

PHOTO: Stevie May is denied by Shamal George

On 24 minutes Joel Nouble did well to hold the ball up for Livi before playing in Cristian Montaño down the left and the Colombian sent over an inviting ball into the box which Bahamboula got on the end of however, his downward header was comfortably gathered by Remi Matthews. Then 10 minutes later Stephen Kelly picked out Scott Pittman on the edge of the box however, the strike from the midfielder didn’t trouble Matthews.

The hosts though found the breakthrough on 35 minutes. Nouble played the ball to Bahamboula and he cut in from the left and from the edge of the box and he saw his right footed effort take a deflection off Andy Considine to take it beyond a wrong-footed Matthews to put The Lions in front.

PHOTO: James Brown gets away from Dylan Moyo Bahamboula before shooting and hitting the crossbar

Livingston made a change before the second half could get underway as Jackson Longridge came on to replace Cristian Montaño.

The Lions started the second half strongly however, they couldn’t create anything of significance to trouble Matthews.

Then on the hour mark Saints got a sight of goal as Jamie Murphy had a go from distance but his effort was gathered at the second attempt by George.

Play quickly switched to the other end as a good interception by Stephen Kelly saw Livi hit Saints on the counter attack as Kelly broke forward before playing a through ball to Jason Holt, who was in on goal however, Matthews made a good save with his feet to deny the midfielder.

Saints then made a double change on 66 minutes as Max Kucheriavyi and Connor McLennan came on to replace Alex Mitchell and Theo Bair.

Livingston continued to press for a second and on 68 minutes Devlin saw his effort blocked by Considine. Play continued and the ball then broke to Bahamboula but his strike went narrowly wide.

PHOTO: Jamie Murphy unleashes a strike at goal

Callum Davidson then made another double change on 77 minutes as James Brown and Jamie Murphy were replaced by Adam Montgomery and Ali Crawford.

Then a minute later Livi thought they had got their second as Nouble headed home a Stephen Kelly cross at the back post however, play was pulled back as Nouble was penalised for a push on Ryan McGowan.

Saints final change of the game came with 8 minutes remaining as David Wotherspoon made his first appearance since suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic at Hampden Park in November and the popular midfielder came on to replace Drey Wright.

Saints continued to press in the closing stages for an equaliser and they came close late on as Melker Hallberg’s cross from the right was met by Crawford but his header was well held by George.

There was four minutes of additional time added on and in the final minute of stoppage time Crawford sent an inviting ball into the box which McLennan was inches away from making a connection with as The Lions saw the game out to secure all 3 points.

PHOTO: Connor McLennan misses a late chance to equalise

Livingston: George, Devlin, Sean Kelly, Obileye, Montaño (Longridge 45), Stephen Kelly (Shinnie 90+1), Holt (Anderson 71), Pittman, Bahamboula (Boyes 85), Guthrie (Fitzwater 71), Nouble

Unused Substitutes: Hamilton (GK), Penrice, Cancar, Goncalves  

Booked: Holt, Pittman, Obileye

Scorer: Bahamboula (35)

Saints: Matthews, Brown (Montgomery 77), Considine, Gordon, Mitchell (McLennan 66), Wright (Wotherspoon 82), McGowan, Hallberg, Murphy (Crawford 77), Bair (Kucheriavyi 66), May

Unused Substitutes: Parish(GK), Gallacher, O’Halloran, Phillips

Booked: Mitchell, McLennan, McGowan

Referee: Kevin Clancy

Attendance: 1,554

Match Report by Daryl Scott

Picture: The returning David Wotherspoon is tackled by Jack Fitzwater