Seven-up for Livi top gun as Iain Russell nets a seventh goal in seven games for table toppers

Mar 10 2011 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

IAIN RUSSELL notched his seventh goal in seven matches as Livingston continued their new-found fondness for early goals.

His partner-in-goals Raffaele De Vita weighed in with a second before the break as the Lions extended their lead at the top of the pile to 16-points.

Alex Williams lashed home for Stenhousemuir 14 minutes from time but it proved to be little more than a consolation as Livingston saw the game out.

Livi scored twice in the first seven minutes on Saturday but they netted even earlier at Ochilview when Russell brushed aside Jordan Smith inside three minutes to burst in on goal and rifle home beyond Ally Brown for the opener.

Grant Anderson had a half chance for Stenny with a volley but it lacked the power to seriously test Tony Bullock who gathered easily. This rare sight of the Livi keeper apart, it was all one-way traffic in the early going.

Livingston doubled their lead on the half-hour mark when De Vita got in on the act, latching onto a long ball through the middle from Jason Talbot.

Brown charged off his line but was beaten to the ball by the Italian who flicked it over him before coolly cushioning it into the empty net from 12 yards.

Stenny boss Davie Irons was furious the goal was allowed to stand after the assistant referee’s flag had been raised for offside in the first phase of play.

The Warriors pulled a goal back on 76 minutes when Williams pounced on a loose ball – after Bullock failed to get enough purchase on a punch – to smash into the net and deny the visitors a fourth clean sheet on the bounce.

The goal gave the hosts a visible lift as they began to pour forward in the closing stages but tellingly they failed to create any clear-cut chances and because Brechin were beaten at Forfar, the Lions extended their lead to a whopping 16 points.

Livingston boss Gary Bollan said: “Everything is in our hands but until it is mathematically impossible teams will continue to chase us and teams will view games against Livingston as a cup final.

“It is up to us to keep the momentum we have going and keep winning matches until we get to where we want to be.

“There are 10-league games to go and 30-points to play for and we’ll do our best to take 30-points from them.

“We had a good start and were out of the traps quickly which is what we are looking for.

“Iain Russell scored again and he is on fire at the moment and can’t stop banging them in.”

Stenhousemuir manager Irons said: “We can’t concede goals the way we did and then expect to score three against the team that is top of the league.

“The two-goals we gave away came after suicidal defending although for the second one the linesman has had his flag up when their player was offside in the first phase of possession and been ignored by the referee.

“They have then gone on to score in the second phase but you can’t wait for these things to be given.

“Two balls down the heart of our defence has killed us and we can’t defend the way we did.

“But the consolation is we were the better side in the second-half and won it 1-0.”

Courier Man of the Match: Joe Hamill

Livingston: Bullock, C Barr, Talbot, Hamill, Cowan, Watson, Fox, Keaghan Jacobs (Sinclair), De Vita (Conway), Russell (Winters), Kyle Jacobs.