Livingston youngster McNulty hoping to live up to Griffiths comparisons

Dec 3 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

“SPARKY scores again” has been a common headline at Almondvale in recent seasons with Leigh Griffiths going goal crazy for Livingston before his summer switch to Dundee.

But there is a new kid goals on the books of the Lions who shares the same nickname as the Dundee hotshot and Marc ‘Sparky’ McNulty hopes the similarities with Griffiths don’t end there.

Both broke into the Livingston top-team as teenagers and enjoyed goalscoring league debuts and, like his predecessor, McNulty is highly rated within the corridors of power at Almondvale.

And although McNulty admits he would love to have the same impact as his namesake — who was First Division top goalscorer, Players’ Player of the Year last season and has since earned caps for both the Scotland Under-21 and B sides —he insists he wants to make his own name in West Lothian.

He explained: “I’m often asked about having the same nickname as Leigh Griffiths but I’ve had the name for years, since I played for Hutchison Vale.

“Leigh was a great player here and an amazing goalscorer who earned a big-money move but I’d like to make my own name in the game.

“I’m learning something every day on the training ground and I’m trying to mix up my game and bring new things into it.

“And watching guys of the calibre of Robbie and David Winters every day and watching their movement and touch is great and that can only help me even more.”

Goals have come easy for the teenager who has already found the net 15 times for the free-scoring Under-19 side this season.

But even he must have been surprised at marking his senior debut with a goal by steering the ball home with his first touch, barely 60 second after coming off the bench against Montrose last month.

And he hasn’t stopped scoring since.

He bagged a hat-trick for the Under -19s the day after his debut goal for the seniors before following that up with another hat-trick in the following fixture. And just last weekend, McNulty scored a double in a 9-0 cup thrashing of East Stirlingshire.

McNulty continued: “It was a brilliant feeling to come on and score on my debut. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d get the chance to touch the ball, never mind score, as there was only a few minutes left when I was sent on.

“But I was in the right place at the right time and absolutely delighted to see it go in.

“Scoring goals is important at every level is the best thing for building up your confidence.

So far the 17-year-old has made brief senior appearances from the bench and despite his immediate impact, he is modest enough to concede he has a lot to learn but he can’t wait for his next Third Division lesson to start.

“I couldn’t tell you if there is a big difference between the Under-19s and the Third Division because I’ve not been on the park long enough to tell,” joked McNulty.

“But watching from the sidelines it looks like players have far less time on their hands and of course there is extra pressure on you to do well due to the importance of the matches.”

His path from the youth team to the first team has been made easier with the fact two of his Under-19s team-mates are regulars in the starting XI on a Saturday.

He added: “The boss has shown that age doesn’t matter to him and, if you’re good enough, you will get a chance.”