Livingston v Stenhousemuir FC

Match Report

Livingston v Sttenhousemuir at Braidwood Motor Company Stadium, Livingston on 16.10.10
Irn Bru Scottish Second Division Att 1,610
 

Livingston 4 [Winters 13, Scullion og 22, Conway 24, Russell 40]

Stenhousemuir 1 [Lyle 28]

The Warriors went into this game against Livingston with a number of injuries with only one forward in the starting eleven though there was a surprise return to the number one jersey for Chris McCluskey with Ally Brown dropping to the bench

As they went into the game depleted of key personnel it meant that Grant Plenderleith and Stuart Love from the youth set up were on the bench and Plenderleith’s debut towards the latter stages of the game was one of the few highlights for Warriors supporters.

In the early stages of the game the majority of the play was held in the Livingston half of the field and Stenhousemuir showed their intent when Stevie Murray fired wide of the mark in the first minute of the game.

There were alarm bells ringing though in the 7th minute of the game when Liam Fox easily beat the offside trap and McCluskey had to bring on a fine stop to prevent Livingston taking the lead.

Livi only had to wait until the 13th minute before they went one up and after that they never looked back. Jordan Smith not for the only time in the game was exposed by the pace of Iain Russell and when he fed the ball to Robbie Winters the experienced Livi player was not closed down and was able to pick his spot to send the Livingston support into raptures.

Stenhousemuir almost got back into the game in the 19th minute when a sort corner between Stevie Murray and Pat Scullion saw Murray’s cross met by an overhead kick from Scott Gibb that was cleared by Paul Watson. A minute later Livingston’s Russell was cautioned for a late tackle on Grant Anderson and was lucky not to see a red card for his effort.

The game was effectively finished in the 22nd minute when another swift counter attack from Livi saw McCluskey save a Russell effort but the ball hit off Pat Scullion who had struggled to get back and landed in the net. It was 3-1 shortly afterwards when once again the pace of the Livingston forwards caught out the Stenhousemuir defence with Russell setting up Aaron Conway who swept the ball home.

The Warriors were thrown a lifeline in the 28th minute when Willie Lyle scored Stenhousemuir’s first away league goal of the season. It has to be said that it was a bit of a fluke as a curling cross sneaked in at the back post making the Livi defence and the keeper Tony Bullock looking rather foolish

That lifeline was taken away in the 40th minute when a Conway free kick was met by a glancing Russell header and landed in the net as once again poor defending made the job simple for the home side

At the start of the second half Livingston almost went nap when Russell somehow or other managed to miss the target from six yards. As the game progressed however the goalmouth action dried up until the last quarter of the game when it picked up again.

Plenderleith’s never give up attitude almost brought a chance when his persistence meant that he managed a cross into the danger area in the 78th minute that was scrambled clear with some difficulty by the Livingston defence.
With four minutes remaining a good first touch took him away from the home defence but he took just that extra touch when poised to shoot and the ball was cleared for a corner. The corner saw a Gibb header cleared off the line by Watson. Livingston responded through a long range Bobby Barr effort that was tipped over by McCluskey. Although Andy Stirling had a couple of efforts before the end the score stayed at 4-1 and left manager John Coughlin with a number of problems to be resolved.

Livingston – Bullock, C.Barr, Malone, Sinclair, O’Byrne, Watson, Fox[b80] [K.Jacobs 85], Conway [Scougall 72], Russell [b20], Winters [McNulty 80] and B.Barr. Subs not used – McDonald and McDowall

Stenhousemuir – McCluskey, Lyle, Thom [b58], Gibb, Smith, Motion, Anderson, I.Thomson [b82, Quinn [Stirling 75], Scullion [Clark 61] and Murray [Plenderleith 61]. Subs not used – Brown and Love

Referee – Steve Conroy

Assistants – Alasdair Ross and James Campbell