Lions subdued by Gable Endies

Jul 23 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

LIVINGSTON suffered an away defeat last week when they were beaten 2-1 by Third Division Montrose.

However, the Lions will not be too disheartened by the loss in which they fielded an entirely new side in the second half.

Boss John Murphy named a full-strength XI for the first 45 which the West Lothian club dominated and led 1-0 at the break.

But Murphy switched the entire side for the second 45 to give youngsters and some trialists a chance to put themselves in the frame for a spot in his new regime.

And Montrose took full advantage of the sweeping changes to first claw Livingston back then snatch the win after a mix-up between back-up keeper Craig McDowall and a reshuffled rearguard.

The Lions, who had been by far the more dangerous side in the opening exchanges, took the lead on 34 minutes when Andrew Halliday cut in from the right and unleashed a left-foot thunderbolt into the back of the net.

David Winters had a chance to add his name to the scoresheet but was unable to do so before Murphy made his sweeping changes at the interval.

Less than two minutes after the restart and Livingston should have been 2-0 ahead when Armand One had a sight of goal but the towering Frenchman dragged his shot wide.

It was a miss that proved costly as Montrose levelled just after the hour mark when John Gemmell lashed a shot high into the net.

One stabbed another chance over the top while youngsters Keaghan Jacobs followed suit and David Sinclair shot inches wide.

Six minutes from the end the Second Division newcomers capped an excellent turnaround when they snatched the win as under-17 prospect Jordan Leyden took advantage of hesitation from Craig McDowall and poked the ball home for the winner.