Livingston v Queens

[ATLIS]

3 hours ago, Distant Doonhamer said:

Just in and pretty much heading straight out so will be brief.

We were poor today but you have to give Livi credit for that, I thought they played well..

2 cracking finishes for our goals. Thought Dobbie was poor today, hardly anything he tried came off.

Final point, had to laugh at some of our support chanting cheat at the player brought down for the Livi pen. . It looked an absolute stonewaller.

Mullen has a certain reputation so it'll always be that way when he wins something

[Livilion28]

Thought Livingston edged it. Our midfield were first to every second ball , byrne and Pittman worked there socks off and picked up everything , thought Keags was poor compared to him usual self. Danny and toddy were a handful up front. Gallagher had good game until there second goal and his head seemed to go down , halkett and Lithgow very strong and commanding. Poor goals to concede but a draw isn't the worst result it's another point on the board. Thought queens were going to be better be our team looked hungrier. There 2 goals were fantastic finishes though 

[LIVIFOREVER]

A rollercoaster of a emotions today, felt we were well worth our lead at HT, and should have had another penalty earlier when Mullen was fouled to block his shot. Well put away by Josh Mullin, I think there was a collective sigh of relief from the Livi stand when Danny left it for someone else to take.

2nd half was more even but Queens hadn't had a shot at our goal and it looked pretty comfortable for us to see it out, but we got caught out on the left wing (again) and allowed Stirling to cut across our 18 yard line until he got a gap to shoot, and invited the shot really. Well struck but I felt we should've stopped him shooting.
Their 2nd was a real scunner, sun got in Gallagher's eyes, he put his hand up to shield his eyes but the ball bounced over his head and Lyle ran onto it and dinked it over Alexander's head into the net. They were clinical with their limited chances and a body blow for us being 2-1 down. I thought we were going to go away with a deflating defeat after having been the better team for most of the match, so what a relief to get level with Mackin prodding it into the net after a goal mouth scramble finally falling for us.

Relieved to have got a point and although I thought we should've had all 3, I suppose the draw was fair enough with us going 2-1 behind.
 

[EdinburghLivi]

2 hours ago, Durnford said:

This is getting a bit like deja vu. 

We draw with Dunfermline and apparently they were well below form

We beat Morton twice and they were well below form

We beat St Mirren in the cup and they were apparently well below form

We beat Falkirk in the cup and they were well below form

All I can say is this must be one hell of a league when everyone's on form.

Oh and just to even it up we draw against Brechin and we were well below form.

As for the game I actually ended up enjoying it; plenty of blood and guts and two teams not prepared to give up and space; plenty of opportunity at both ends. Obviously I'd have preferred to take all the points but for entertainment value alone it was worth the money.

And I'm stating to have a feeling of dread every time I see Derek "sun-lamp" Lyle.

 

Almost as if we deserve more respect for stopping teams from playing, Durnford.

[Tam]

"Some say that we wan and some say that they wan and some say that nane wan at a', man"

imo a draw was fair. Thought our team selection and tactics were mince until the manager changed it with major surgery (3 subs at once). We had no width and the understanding between Dykes and Dobbie was minimal. Hoof ball to Dykes out wide was pitiful to watch. Tbf the manager put two wingers on and transformed the approach. Stirling became a handful and Mc Fadden had some good touches. Putting Dobbie and Lyle together ain't rocket science, they are simply the best front pairing we've had in ages.

Thought the pen was a stonewaller. Young Leighfield did OK in goals and didn't have a chance with either conceded. Some of his long kicking was impressive, finding Stirling free on the touch line. Tapping had a good game, as did Kerr in defence. 

Eta two great finishes by Stirling and Del. The first was like the Dobbmeister's second v Falkirk. Great cut inside and 20yd shot into the top corner. Class!

[LIVIFOREVER]

1 hour ago, AMC13 said:

A game we should have won but considering we went 2-1 down with 10 to go I'm happy enough we didn't lose at least.

I can take the first goal possibly should have been closed down better but good finish. Second is a horrible misjudgement from Gallagher, something he done a lot against TNS.

I was more annoyed by Stirling's goal, saw it coming as soon as he cut along our 18 yard line and nobody was getting near him to stop him shooting, he telegraphed his intention and we stood off watching it happen. Fantastic goal as it was, we did very little in the way of stopping it. Mullen did the same thing in the first half but didn't hit it as well as Stirling and their keeper saved it.

 

Gallagher was blinded by the sun for Lyle's goal, as it bounced he put his hand up to shield his eyes and lost where the ball was, Lyle took full advantage of that and ran past him anticipating the ball going over his head, superb finish again to lob it over Alexander into the net.

[LIVIFOREVER]

Just now, EdinburghLivi said:

Almost as if we deserve more respect for stopping teams from playing, Durnford.

Yep, the top 3 teams just now all played poorly against us, our players (particularly our midfield) work their arses off to make them play poorly but away fans don't see it that way, they only see their own players having a bad day.

[Sloop John B]

55 minutes ago, Distant Doonhamer said:

 

Final point, had to laugh at some of our support chanting cheat at the player brought down for the Livi pen. . It looked an absolute stonewaller.

 

I'm fairly sure some people got confused between Mullen and the winger Mullin and started giving the wrong guy pelters. 

[Homer Thompson]

1 hour ago, Sloop John B said:

Somehow despite both teams best efforts that turned into a cracking game.

I can see why we kept the same team as Falkirk but perhaps the reality of that game was Falkirk being an absolute gang rather than tactically outclassing them. The central midfield 3 were suffocated by Livingston's and with Fordyce at RB then you don't really have an outball especially as Dobbie could hardly make much of an impact and neither Dykes and Kane could hold the ball up. 

 

Livingston had a fairly straight forward game plan and got the ball forward as quickly as possible. As a team they looked like they knew their roles well whilst Tapping and Rankin didn't look comfortable at all in comparison. They also seem like an annoying team to play against with how cynical and physically they play and with Mullen up top they have a skilful player that goes down very easily (stonewaller for the pen though). The first half they bullied us off the park and a fairly silly lunge by Rankin probably gave us what we deserved. Livi looked like a hungry team that worked for each other but lacked a bit of guile that will probably hold them back this season.

 

The start of the second half we were fairly comprehensively outplayed but the triple sub sprung the game to life. McFadden and Stirling brought width, quality and unpredictability. The strike by Stirling was top drawer and was the first bit of quality  with direct running and then Lyle took advantage of a slip up by Gallagher but the finish was sublime.

McFadden coming on for 15 minute cameos is something I can look forward to. Filthy nutmegs, lovely first touch actual composure on the ball. Can't track back to save himself but the sheer chaos factor he brings makes it worth it.

Leighfield will probably want to have that second goal back. He was fairly assertive for most of the game but he seemed to get twitchy after a bad kick and didn't come for the ball. He saved most of what came his way but his kicking was fairly erratic. All in all a standard young goalkeeper performance. 

Fordyce I thought had a rough day,  he looked positionally lost and by the end looked like he could hardly move. Rooney would have been a better option today.

Dykes has zero belief in his own ability to score, he looks to pass at every opportunity which worked 2 weeks ago but he should have smashed an early chance at goal instead of trying to square to Tapping. 

 

Despite the result and performance  encouraging that we are able to come back from a goal down, Last year we would have huffed and puffed to no avail but the quality off the bench is night and day compared to last year. I think we can try keep things a lot more simple would be beneficial going forward.

All of this really. We couldnt cope physically with Livy anywhere on the pitch in the first half, particularly with their tactic of hoofing the ball forward at every opportunity. As often happens, we got dragged into the same tactic but Dykes and Kane were powder-puff up front.

At half time I said Fordyce at right back was a mistake. Kerr had a much better second half but I still think we'd have coped better with the Livi forwards with Brownlie and Fordyce together.

Without wanting to criticise Leighfield who coped with most things well, Im not sure we'd have lost that second goal if Martin had been playing.

We were always going to start with the same formation as the last few weeks but if we're going to persist with it Kane is going to have to contribute more. Im also not convinced it works with Fordyce at right back as he doesnt give the width going forward thats needed without any wide men in the midfield.

McFadden had some nice touches and him and Dobbie almost combined to score a worldy but McFaddens final pass in the box was just cut out by the defender. Looks like he'll give us another option

[andylivi1]

1 hour ago, ATLIS said:

Pittman had an absolutely rotten game, as did Sean. Thought Keaghan was the only one fighting

It's funny how people see a game differently, I will say this I didn't think pitts looked his usual self, maybe still suffering from that penalty miss last week but I thought Shaun Byrne was outstanding for us today, broke up nearly every attempted break by Queens, won nearly every 50/50 and can't remember him giving the ball away. 

Btw on a side note because I think everything has been pretty much said regarding the game, well done to Queens players and staff that allowed the guard of honour before the game for Keaghan Jacobs, a really nice touch, hats off lads, well done. 

[Steeplechat]

Did McFadden contribute much after he came on?

Please somebody , anybody tell Northfield FFS

[Sloop John B]

Just now, Mr X said:

 

McFadden had some nice touches and him and Dobbie almost combined to score a worldy but McFaddens final pass in the box was just cut out by the defender. Looks like he'll give us another option

 

It started with two consecutive dreadful first touch - second touch tackles from Fordyce and Tapping before somehow almost turning into brilliance when it managed to get to the forward's feet which is probably the most accurate summary the current squad at the moment. 

[Hawk]

Not the best of games for us but thought once we'd gone ahead in the second half we would have seen the game out. Suppose a point away at Livi isn't to be sniffed at. Others will drop points here.

[Nithsdale Wanderer]

3 hours ago, 19QOS19 said:

but to say we are a far greater threat with Lyle on the pitch is at the very least debateable.

I know you are a big Dobbie fan.  

Don't you think that is the most potent pairing we have ?

They complement each other so well and are on the same wavelength most of the time.

Del has set up so many opportunities for Dobbie and vice versa.   That is what I mean by being a greater goal threat when Lyle is on the pitch too.

[19QOS19]

I know you are a big Dobbie fan.  
Don't you think that is the most potent pairing we have ?
They complement each other so well and are on the same wavelength most of the time.
Del has set up so many opportunities for Dobbie and vice versa.   That is what I mean by being a greater goal threat when Lyle is on the pitch too.

Like I said, I wasn't arguing with your statement. Merely pointing out that we put 4 past Falkirk when he never started so it's not as black and white as saying we are a bigger threat with him starting.

[Skyline Drifter]

It was entertaining in its own way. I don't think we were anywhere near as good today as we have been recently but you have to give Livi a lot of the credit for that. They were physical all over the pitch, they closed down quickly. There must have been more than a dozen cases of Livi forward players charging down and blocking or half blocking our attempts to pass out from the back which in turn led to our back line starting to get rid of the ball more quickly and punting it longer which doesn't help the way our forwards want to play. Livi strangled the possession from our midfield and strangled the service to the front players. And either Dobbie had an off day or they also effectively kept him quiet, though in that case I'm more inclined to think it was him having a poorer day, albeit there wwere some positive signs of link up between him and McFadden when the latter appeared.

I thought Livi were the better team first half. Not sure they'd quite done enough to warrant a lead but they were far more like it than us. The penalty was a stonewaller and they could have had one about five minutes before too. Mullin put it away well. Apart from a Dobbie free kick and a good run from Dykes to the backpost when he cut it back rather than shooting as he should have, we offered little.

Second half started fairly similarly before the triple substitution which certainly changed things in our favour. Changing two forwards was obvious and we have tremendous options on our bench to do that now. Fair play to the manager for also sticking Stirling on and changing the shape though. I thought McFadden looked still a yard or two off the pace and with him and Dobbie on the park we had two men not tracking back which was risky but at one down we'd little to lose. He had some nice touches though whilst the other two did well, not just because they both scored terrific goals.

At 2-1 up we should probably see it out but it would have been harsh on Livi over the piece. I thought Jacobs was our best player and Kerr had a great game at the back. Fordyce didn't look as assured at full back as he did at Falkirk but he did get forward more than he did there and did put in some decent crosses. I was a wee bit worried about young Jack facing a team of big full timers, and Livi's back line in particular are enormous, but he did well enough. HIs defence generally protected him well at set pieces and he made a couple of good blocks and punched a couple well. A couple of composed departures from his area to mop up too. I'd need to see the late equaliser again though, I thought it maybe could have been claimed earlier when it first came across. In general though he showed we don't need to worry if we need to call on him as we did today with Martin being ill.

Anyway, it wasn't a great performance but I saw more positives than negatives. We were second best for much of the game and trailling for more than half an hour but came back in a way last year's side probably wouldn't have. Even when not playing well we have goals in that squad and on that bench. We'll get chances in nearly every game and have players to take advantage of those now. We're still in the top four and within a game of the top. It's not a bad day. We regroup and look ahead to Morton visiting.

[LiviBoy2603]

A vlog of today's action packed match

[KingfaetheSooth]

5 hours ago, Durnford said:

 

I've been watching football for fifty years now; 

Who did you support before the Livvie franchise? Meadowbank? And if so, who did you support before Meadowbank? Ferranti Thistle? 

[LIVIFOREVER]

Just now, KingfaetheSooth said:

Who did you support before the Livvie franchise? Meadowbank? And if so, who did you support before Meadowbank? Ferranti Thistle? 

Who's your big team?

[Distant Doonhamer]

2 minutes ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

Who's your big team?

Third Lanark?