Livingston fight back from 2-0 down to take Boxing Day point

Dec 30 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

RAFFAELE DE VITA and David Sinclair produced a second-half one-two for Livingston who fought their way back from 2-0 down to earn the point they needed to move back to the top of the table on Boxing Day.

Goals from Stuart Noble and Mick Dunlop had the Lions on the Recreation Park ropes before a spirited second-half comeback saw them rescue a point and move above Brechin City in the title chase.

De Vita grabbed the equaliser 20 minutes from the end but neither side could land a knock-out blow to take the points on the Lions first competitive outing since November 20.

And the Italian reveals he wouldn’t have been too disappointed at seeing their enforced winter break extend beyond Sunday due to the condition of the Recreation Park pitch.

He said: “The surface wasn’t very good as it was both solid and very slippy.

“No-one would have complained had the match not gone ahead as it was not the ideal surface to play a football match on.

“But at least we are back playing again and we have some match fitness out of it.

“I thought we played well in the first-half and even better in the second-half where we could have won the game as we dominated the whole second-half, apart from a ten minute spell.

“It’s massive for us to be at the top of the league at the end of year as everyone will look at that and see Livingston at the top which gives us a massive boost.”

The only game in the division to beat the big freeze warmed up early on when Craig Barr got himself involved with referee Gary Hilland and talked his way into a yellow card.

Barr then continued to walk a disciplinary tightrope and he could have earned the first squeeze of the shower gel when he clattered Bryan Prunty right under the nose of the ref.

Another strong challenge quickly followed and although Hilland kept his cards in his pocket Lions boss Gary Bollan moved quickly to substitute his stopper, sending on Cammy MacDonald in his place.

Chances were proving few and far between although Iain Russell did have the ball in the Alloa net but the Livi man had strayed offside.

At the other end Stuart Noble was sent scampering in on goal but the through ball had too much pace on it and it skipped into the arms of the onrushing Tony Bullock.

Noble didn’t have to wait long for another chance when he spun onto a cleared Livingston corner and galloped clear from the half-way line where there was nobody between him and the visitors’ goal and he stroked the ball into the bottom corner for the opener.

The Lions began to take control of the match in the final five minutes of the first-half but despite dominating possession they didn’t manage to create any real chances.

And it was Alloa who netted again a minute before the break.

Billy Gibson had a header clawed away by Bullock and when the hosts failed to clear their lines properly the ball was helped back into the box and hooked into the net by Mick Dunlop.

The first chance of the second-half fell to Livingston when skipper Liam Fox latched onto a threaded pass from Russell but his low drive was straight at Jamie Ewings.

Fox went even closer with his next effort but unfortunately for the visitors it rolled narrowly past the wrong side of the post.

Livingston did pull a goal back on the hour mark when sub David Sinclair curled a stunning free kick into the top corner.

The momentum was now with the Lions who were dominating the ball and it was no surprise to see them draw level on 70 minutes Raffaele De Vita smashed into the roof of the net from the edge of the box following a corner kick.

Alloa should have regained the lead ten minutes from the end when a mishit shot from Michael McGowan reached Jim Lister unmarked in the centre of the box but his shot on the turn was blocked by Bullock.

The game was raging from end to end and Keaghan Jacobs thought he’d done enough to win it when his lung-bursting run was picked out by Robbie Winters but his shot from 12 yards was deflected wide for a corner.

Alloa boss Allan Maitland said: “When we're winning we have a terrible tendency to sit in.

“No matter how much we try I can't get them to move up the park and it is killing us.”

Livingston manager Gary Bollan said: “I didn’t think we deserved to be 2-0 down at half-time as we gave away two easy goals from our point of view.

“That was disappointing but I felt we played well in the first-half.

“In the second-half I felt we dominated, passed the ball well, did great to get back into it and were unfortunate not to come away with the three points in the end.

“It was a great strike from Sinky and if you are anywhere in football I don’t think you’ll see a better one, with where he has hit it.

“I don’t think we were rusty first-half as we passed the ball well enough but maybe there was a wee bit of that after not playing a game for so long.”

Courier Man of the Match: David Sinclair

Livingston: Bullock, D Jacobs, C Barr (MacDonald, Sinclair), Watson, Malone, Keaghan Jacobs, Kyle Jacobs, Fox, B Barr (De Vita), Winters, Russell.