Livingston 1 Dunfermline 1
Saturday, 5th Aug 2017Ladbrokes Championship: M`Voto and Aird start in place of Morris and McManus. Scott Pitman (30) 1-0: Kallum Higginbotham (63 pen.) 1-1: Sean Murdoch saves 85th minute penalty
The opening match of the Ladbrokes Championship season took Dunfermline to Livingston as the home side returned to the second tier of Scottish football after an absence of one season.
With Nicky Clark out after an ankle operation, striker Declan McManus serving a two league matches suspension and David Hopkirk just returning from injury, manager Allan Johnston was lacking options upfront. New signing Fraser Aird went straight into the team with Kallum Higginbotham expected to play further forward. The only other change was Jean-Yves M`Voto replacing the injured Callum Morris.
Livingston showed one change from the side they fielded against Cardiff City in their most recent friendly. Josh Mullin coming in for Raffaele De Vita. That meant that Shaun Byrne lined up against his former club.
Ahead of kick off Livingston proudly unfurled the League One champions flag. Dunfermline had performed the same ceremony only 12 months previous and led out by Sean Murdoch they formed a guard of honour for the Livi heroes. Their captain Craig Halkett was followed out by his team and the Chairman Robert Wilson who with more than one tug required, performed the happy task.
The home side kicked off attacking the goal at the north end of the Toni Macaroni Stadium and within 13 seconds Josh Mullin tested Murdoch from 25 yards out and the all green keeper dived to his left to make a fine stop. Almost but not quite the perfect start for the Lions.
As more room was created to accommodate the larger than expected travelling support, play continued in the direction of the Pars keeper. For several minutes Livi kept play in the Dunfermline half with powerful headed clearances required from Ashcroft, Paton and Wedderburn.
It was the 11th minute before Neil Alexander was called into action. Higginbotham collected the ball on the right side of the Livi box but his pass in failed to find Callum Smith and the keeper had no trouble in gathering.
A fine cross from Josh Mullin on the right was defended out only as far as Dale Carrick who shot at the angle and again Murdoch was forced in a necessary save. Then two minutes later, in 19 minutes the first corner of the afternoon allowed Mullin to send in a dangerous cross that Murdoch fisted away. That was quickly fed back to him on the left and his shot was deflected behind for another corner that this time Murdoch held at his back post.
Right back Declan Gallagher tried a blast from distance midway through the half but it was further outside the right upright than the home support in their stand thought.
A Livi corner on the right after 30 minutes led to the opener. Taken short to Scott PITTMAN who cut inside and released a low shot from the edge of the box that travelled through all the legs and into the Fifers net. 1-0
Dunfermline won their first corner of the match in an immediate response but Livingston cleared. A goal in arrears and devoid of much joy in attack the Pars manager made a substitution five minutes before the break, David Hopkirk coming on for debut boy Aird.
Before the half time whistle there was one opportunity made by Higginbotham cutting back from the right byeline but M`Voto could not get enough on his header to trouble the keeper. The half ended with possession showing 52% to the visitors but Livingston had tried five shots to the Pars none. The large travelling support were certainly hoping for better in the next 45 minutes.
Half time: Livingston 1 Dunfermline 0
The half time talk seemed to rally the visitors intent and they did show more urgency from the restart. Jackson Longridge dumped Williamson on the touchline to earn the Pars an opportunity for Higginbotham to pump a free kick into the Livi box. That was initially cleared but then a cross came in from the left and a 52nd minute penalty was denied when Hopkirk was pushed off the ball as he rose to challenge in front of goal.
From a 56th minute corner from the left Carrick headed powerfully on target and the ball was cleared at the right goalpost by Cardle. Then Williamson`s cross towards Smith earned the Pars a corner on the right but when that came over neither Wedderburn nor Cardle could control the ball and Livi broke.
Then in 63 minutes Joe Cardle was taken down on the right side of the box and this time referee Alan Newlands pointed to the spot. Kallum HIGGINBOTHAM grabbed the ball and then stuck it past Neil Alexander. 1-1
Dean Shiels replaced Callum Smith and Livi brought on Raffaele de Vita for Dale Carrick. Both teams made lively attempts to get the next goal. Williamson has another sortie up the right and at the other end both Mullen and Mullin tried crosses from the right.
In 73 minutes Byrne found himself in good position deep into the right side of the Pars box but fortunately Williamson swept away the threat. Two minutes later Josh Mullin delivered a good ball from the right and de Vita scooped that good chance over the bar.
Cardle and Gallagher were yellow carded after an off the ball incident before a Cardle cross set up Hopkirk at the far post but his attempt was kept out by the defence.
An 80th minute free kick caused real problems for Dunfermline and Mullen looked like he might have sneaked the ball in but between then Murdoch and M`Voto denied the Livi number ten.
Then five minutes from the end M`Voto`s challenge on Mullen on the left side of the box earned the home side a penalty kick. Mullen assumed responsibility and sent his spot kick attempt right. Murdoch dived the right way low and pushed the ball away.
So it was to be a point apiece, a result that pleased the hosts more than the visitors. The first half performance was well below the expectations at Dunfermline Athletic something that the manager would speculate a consequence of soaking up too much praise following the good day at Tynecastle in the previous match.
SUBS NOT USED: Matthew Knox, Scott Robinson, Josh Peters, Gary Maley (GK)
SCORERS: Pittman (30),
YELLOW CARD: Mullen (44), Gallagher (78), Longridge (89)
DUNFERMLINE: Sean Murdoch (c): Ryan Williamson, Jean Yves M`Voto, Lee Ashcroft, Lewis Martin: Fraser Aird (David Hopkirk 40), Michael Paton, Nat Wedderburn, Joe Cardle: Kallum Higginbotham, Callum Smith (Dean Shiels 65).
SUBS NOT USED: Scott Lochhead, Aaron Splaine, Jason Talbot, Conner Duthie, Cammy Gill (GK)
SCORERS: Higginbotham (63 pen.)
YELLOW CARD: M`Voto (76), Cardle (78)
REFEREE: Alan Newlands
WEATHER: Sunny 16C
ATTENDANCE 2301
NEXT MATCH: Ladbrokes Championship: (home) v Inverness Caley Thistle, Saturday 12th August 2017. 3.00pm kick off at East End Park.
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Allan Johnston post Livingston
Sat, 5th Aug 2017
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David Hopkirk post Livingston
Sat, 5th Aug 2017
Check out the Gallery for more photo's -- the images below will scroll through automatically.
Preview Livingston
Saturday, 5th Aug 2017Ladbrokes Championship: Saturday 5th August 2017 3.00 kick off at the Tony Macaroni Stadium
Dunfermline`s trip to Livingston on Saturday will be their first in competition to the West Lothian club since March 2013. Following going into administration the Pars were relegated that season and after three season won promotion but Livingston past by them on the way up as they too took the drop.
The Championship new boys have had a good start to the season, winning their Betfred Cup group having beaten St Mirren, Airdrieonians and Stranraer and Premier League Partick Thistle on penalties. Dunfermline too topped their Betfred Cup group so it should be a good contest between two teams that will be full of confidence.
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League v Livingston
(Away) |
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Pld |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
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18 |
4 |
8 |
6 |
16 |
24 |
The Pars won four visits back when an Andy Kirk double assisted in the 3-2 victory.
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Milestones
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Last
League Victory # |
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3-2 |
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Last
League Defeat # |
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1-2 |
Div 1 . |
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Best
League Victory * |
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4-2 |
Div
2 |
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Worst League Defeat* |
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0-4 |
Div
2 |
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#
As |
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Last Twelve League matches
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Date |
H/A |
F-A |
Scorers |
| 30/03/13 | A | 2-2 | [1-0] Thomson, [1-1] Andreu, [2-1] McNulty, [2-2] Husband (pen.) |
| 26/01/13 | H | 0-1 | [0-1] Andreu |
| 08/12/12 | A | 1-2 | [0-1] Garcia, [0-2] Mullen, [1-2] Barrowman |
| 22/09/12 | H | 4-0 | [1-0] Barrowman, [2-0] McMillan, [3-0] Thomson, [4-0] Barrowman |
| 17/03/09 | A | 2-4 | [0-1] McParland, [1-1] Bell, [1-2] Davidson, [2-2] Graham. [2-3] Davidson, [2-4] Griffiths |
| 30/12/08 | H | 1-0 | [1-0] Shields |
| 15/11/08 | A | 3-2 | [0-1] McPake, [1-1] Kirk, [2-1] Bayne, [2-2] Elliott, [3-2] Kirk |
| 30/08/08 | H | 1-2 | [0-1] Griffiths, [1-1] Kirk, [1-2] Griffiths |
| 01/03/08 | H | 1-1 | [1-0] Burke, [1-1] Dorrans |
| 02/01/08 | A | 2-0 | [1-0] Hamilton, [2-0] Burchill |
| 03/11/07 | H | 0-4 | [0-1] Craig, [0-2] Craig, [0-3] Tinkler, [0-4] Kennedy |
| 19/08/07 | A | 1-1 | [0-1] Mackay (pen.) [1-1] O Morrison |
Dunfermline may have failed to win in the last three visits but before that they had made the trip five times without defeat. The Pars have won four of the last dozen league meetings with Livingston, losing five with the other three ending in draws.
Last Meeting at Livingston
First Division - Saturday 30th March 2013
Livingston 2 Dunfermline 2
Given the announcement of player redundancies no one would expect much from Jim Jefferies` casualty riddled side. The Pars travelled to Livingston on Saturday at the end of the most tumultuous week in their 128 year history. Interim Administration was announced on Wednesday, player redundancies on Thursday and then the removal of Assistant Manager on Friday.
Midway through the first half the visitors took the lead against the run of play. A dangerous Ross Millen ball from the right was headed in by Ryan THOMSON and the Pars were 1-0 up.
Ten minutes into the second half Garcia played a fine diagonal ball into the box and Tony ANDREU made no mistake and so it was all square.
In 69 minutes a long ball caused mayhem and Livi sub Marc McNULTY nipped in to smash the ball past the helpless Michal Hrivnak. 2-1
The game was in the first minute of added time when Mullen brought down Shaun Byrne on the left side of the penalty box and referee Paul Robertson pointed to the spot. Stephen HUSBAND stepped up and calmly slotted the ball home. 2-2. The point was no less than the performance deserved.
LIVINGSTON: Andy McNeil. Kevin McCann, Craig Barr, Jason Talbot, Anthony Andreu, Burton O`Brien, Kyle Jacobs (Marc McNulty HT), Liam Fox (Coll Donaldson 86), Stefan Scougall (Danny Mullen 67), Iain Russell.
SUBS NOT USED: Callum Booth, Darren Jamieson (GK).
DUNFERMLINE: Michal Hrivnak. Ross Millen, Kerr Young, John Potter (Shaun Byrne 53), Alex Whittle. Josh Falkingham (c), Chris Kane, Stephen Husband, Ryan Thomson. Craig Dargo (Grant Munro 58), Ryan Wallace (Allan Smith 45+1).
SUBS NOT USED: Ross Drummond, Ryan Goodfellow (GK).
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| . Livingston | .
. .. |
. Dunfermline | ||||
| . Partick Thistle (H) | D | 1-1 | . Hearts (A) | . D | .2-2 | |
| . St Mirren (A) | W | 1-0 | . Peterhead (H) | W | 5-1 | |
| . Airdrieonians (H) | W | 2-0 | . East Fife (A) | D | 0-0 | |
| . Stranraer (A) | W | 4-2 | . Elgin City (H) |
.W |
.6-0 | |
Above: Callum Smith`s last visit was for the U20s
Last Time Out
Livingston`s Betfred Cup group fixtures were concluded with their 4-2 win at Stranraer on Tuesday, so they travelled to Cardiff for a friendly against the Bluebirds on Friday. Their 4-0 defeat was put down as a valuable learning experience for the players for the season ahead.
DUNFERMLINE (v Hearts): Sean Murdoch: Ryan Williamson, Callum Morris (c), Lee Ashcroft, Lewis Martin: Kallum Higginbotham, Michael Paton, Nat Wedderburn, Joe Cardle (Jean-Yves M`Voto 89): Declan McManus, Callum Smith (Scott Lochhead 66)
SUBS NOT USED: Aaron Splaine, Jason Talbot, Conner Duthie, Cammy Gill (GK)
LIVINGSTON (v Cardiff City): Neil Alexander: Declan Gallagher, Craig Halkett, Alan Lithgow, Keaghan Jacobs, Scott Pittman, Shaun Byrne, Raffaele De Vita, Daniel Mullen, Jackson Longridge, Dale Carrick.
SUBS: Nicky Cadden, Nikolay Todorov, Josh Mullin, Scott Robinson, Gary Maley, Dylan Mackin, Josh Peters.
Referee will be Alan Newlands.
Come on ye Pars!
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