Livingston 0-1 Queen of the South

On-loan St Johnstone striker Chris Kane opened the scoring for Queens

Queen of the South ended a run of three games without a win to leapfrog hosts Livingston into fourth spot in the Scottish Championship.

Chris Kane was the man to find the target, knocking home a Stephen Dobbie shot that came back off the crossbar.

Livi had almost taken the lead when Raffaele De Vita fired against a post before Kane's strike before the break.

Nickolay Toderov came closest to an equaliser for the home side.

• Kane expects return to St Johnstone

None of the previous 47 meetings between these sides had ended goalless, but after a pretty dreadful opening 20 minutes, that record looked in doubt.

The visitors had the bulk of early possession, but it was Livi who came close to breaking the deadlock.

De Vita tried his luck from just outside the penalty box and, although his effort beat goalkeeper Alan Martin, the ball thumped off the base of the left-hand post and the danger was cleared.

Seconds later, Queens raced up the field and top scorer Dobbie forced Neil Alexander in the Livingston goal to a fine save low to his right-hand side.

Queen of the South manager Gary Naysmith saw his side end a run of three games without a win

Dobbie was keen to add to his 20-goal haul this season and he had a major input in the visitors taking the lead.

The experienced striker strode clear of the home defence and his shot came back off the underside of the crossbar and Kane was first to react to clip the ball home.

It was the 23-year-old stiker's fifth goal since joining the Doonhamers on loan from St Johnstone.

Gary Naysmith's side almost doubled their advantage on the hour mark, when Dobbie burst clear down the left-hand side, cut in and fired in a shot that the Livingston goalkeeper did well to push away.

The home side were much better in the second half and Toderov managed to get his head on to a Byrne cross, but Joe Thomson was on the goal line to clear.

Livi substitute Steven Boyd should have found the target with a free header six yards out but nodded wide with the goal gaping as Queens held on for victory with a little to spare.

Post-match reaction

Livingston manager David Hopkin: "First half we hit the post and had a couple of half chances, then give away a ridiculous goal. You've got to give Queens credit, they sat in and made it difficult for us. We should have finished with a point.

"It's one of those games, everybody huffed and puffed. It wasn't a classic and once Queens went ahead their back four didn't move. We've got to do better, because the goal we gave away was very poor.

"We need to keep picking up points to make sure that we stay up."

Livingston manager David Hopkin felt his side should have earned a point against Queen of the South

Queen of the South manager Gary Naysmith: "We were prepared for a battle, we changed the formation slightly. I said to the players that they had t be able to stand up to the fight because Livingston are a physical team, buy also that you need to get the ball wide and cause them a few problems. We did that.

"I don't think there was a lot in the game, but we edged it. We had more clear chances than them."