Bottom side Livingston showed fighting spirit to come from behind twice to grab a 2-2 draw against fellow strugglers Ross County at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
Striker Simon Murray’s terrific strike after 28 minutes gave the Staggies the lead but Livi midfielder Scott Pittman poached an equaliser just before the break.
Murray fired in a second in the 85th minute but Livi substitute Dan MacKay levelled with a header three minutes later for a deserved point.
The Lions have gone 15 league games without a win, remain six points adrift of second-bottom County in the table and have played two games more than the Dingwall men, but David Martindale can take some encouragement from his side’s display.
How Livingston salvaged a draw
Seeking solutions – and fast – Martindale brought back Joel Nouble, Pittman, Kurtis Guthrie and Jamie Brandon.
Derek Adams took some hope from the narrow 1-0 defeat away to Celtic on Saturday and kept the same team which included six January signings – George Wickens, Loick Ayina, Teddy Jenks, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Brandon Khela and Eli King.
Midfielder Yan Dhanda, who has agreed a pre-contract with Hearts, captained the side in front of a sparse crowd.
The match took time to warm up.
In the 24th minute a James Penrice cross from wide on the left almost caught out County goalkeeper Wickens, who scooped the ball away from under his crossbar with Livi failing to capitalise on a moment of panic in the visiting box.
Moments later, the Highland club took the lead.
Murray raced onto a searching Dhanda pass and under pressure inside the box from defender Ayo Obiliye he hammered the ball high past keeper Michael McGovern from a tight angle.
The offside flag went up but a VAR check confirmed the goal, allowing Murray to celebrate his 12th of the season.
Obiliye went close with a curling effort from 20 yards as Livi responded and just before the break, Pittman reacted quickly to a Guthrie knockdown inside the box and stabbed the ball past Wickens from six yards.
Livi’s Steven Bradley missed the target with a low drive before the interval and play zipped from end to end when play resumed.
In the 68th minute, McGovern made up for fumbling Dhanda’s cross inside his six-yard box by blocking a close-range drive from Staggies substitute Jordan White.
However, Livingston looked like they could snatch another goal and a series of deliveries into the County box were repelled.
Pittman curled a shot just past a post and then, with the goal gaping, attacker Bruce Anderson missed the target from a cutback from fellow sub MacKay, who may have been offside anyway.
But there was late drama.
County raced up the park and when a cross from substitute Josh Sims arrived at Murray at the back post, he fired past McGovern from 12 yards.
Livi were not to be denied, though, and MacKay headed in a Jason Holt cross to maintain the status quo at the bottom.
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Livingston manager David Martindale said: “It was frustrating. There’s been a lot of good performances over the last five or six weeks.
“It’s hard to be critical of a lot of the players on the park. Offensively we were very good.
“We had a lot of chances and we have to hit the target. We created plenty but the defending is nowhere near the levels we need.
“We did show character to come back twice. We were nervous in the first half but once they scored, that sparked us into life.
“We got a foothold in the game. Then the boys dug in and got us back to 2-2 and showed huge character.
“The goals we’re losing at this level is extremely worrying.”
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Ross County boss Derek Adams reacting to speculation linking Yan Dhanda with a move to Hearts before the window shuts: “Well unless Hearts were able to pay money and the club thought it was acceptable. I wouldn’t want to lose him between now and the end of the season.
“But if a club comes up with the money that that club accepts, then you can’t do anything about that.
“But it looks like it’s highly unlikely because Hearts have said they’ve got no money to spend.
“We’ll look to do one more, possibly two by the window finishing. I’d like to do two. It might not happen, but we’ll hopefully do one.”
What’s next?
Livingston’s next Scottish Premiership match is away to Rangers on Saturday, while Ross County host St Johnstone.
Both games kick off at 3pm.
Source : Sky Sports
