St Mirren 1-0 Livingston: Hosts stay third after edging out bottom club
- Published
Greg Kiltie celebrates Sean Kelly's own goal for Livingston that put St Mirren 1-0 in front
St Mirren consolidated third place in the Scottish Premiership as Sean Kelly's first-half own goal condemned bottom club Livingston to a sixth straight defeat.
Chances were limited with both sides evenly matched before Michael Nottingham saw his first-half header rebound back off the crossbar.
Minutes later, the home side capitalised when a defence-splitting pass let Greg kiltie in, his shot was saved but found the target off Kelly under pressure from Mikael Mandron.
Long-term absentee Jonah Ayunga came close to a second when his header looped on to the crossbar before a potential second own goal was chopped off after a VAR review as Stephen Robinson's side claimed a first win in four games.
They remain two points clear of Hearts, while Livingston are a point adrift at the bottom.
Both sides came into this one looking for a positive result, with St Mirren off the back of a thumping defeat in Dundee and David Martindale's side propping up the table.
It was far from a classic, with shots on target at a premium in freezing conditions but the visitors were matching their hosts with an effective, quite direct, approach.
It all swung in the minutes following Nottingham's effort. A corner was flicked on and the defender contorted his neck to send in an excellent header. It was unlucky to connect with the bar rather than find the net and proved pivotal.
The fine margins managers regular point to it seemed and Livingston were punished when a bit of quality that had been lacking released Kiltie and St Mirren were fortunate to see the ball rebound of Kelly and home.
Ayunga looked to cement that advantage but was frustrated again by the woodwork.
It was a similar pattern throughout with St Mirren denied that second late on with Livingston continuing to struggle, albeit they nearly snatched a point deep in injury time when Joel Nouble's effort was tipped away. Too little, too late.
Player of the match - Jonah Ayunga (St Mirren)
Jonah Ayunga made his first start for St Mirren since January and showed a high level of fitness and threat in a hard-fought affair before being replaced on the hour.
Huge boost for St Mirren - analysis
St Mirren will be thrilled with this result as teams were beginning to circle below them in third place.
They capitalised on home advantage once again, despite not being at their best, and that will do wonders for confidence after a bad day at the office last time out against Dundee.
Three points was exactly what was required and delivered. They saw it through despite a late scare deep in injury time.
Livingston badly need something to go in their favour. Six defeats on the trot has been extremely damaging and while they remain in touch with teams above, they can ill-afford that run being extended.
They struggled to make much impact in the final third throughout, save for Nottingham's header from a set-piece. Scoring has been a real struggle - their barren run now stretches to five games. Goals may come but it's difficult to see where from on this evidence.
What did they say?
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "Defensively we were very good. We had a couple more chances and probably should have finished the game off. But it was a cold, miserable day that was not conducive to good football.
"We had to match Livingston for their battling qualities and we did that. When we did pass the ball, we did create chances we just did not do them often enough."
Livingston manager David Martindale: "I am not going to say St Mirren didn't deserve the three points because at the end of the day they put the ball in the net and we didn't but it is fine margins.
"I thought we let ourselves down in doing the fundamentals of the game in the first half. In the second half we didn't cause enough problems in their box.
"We need to start finding a way to win games of football. Ultimately it falls to me and I am well aware of that."
What's next?
St Mirren head north to visit Ross County on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) then are away to Rangers next Sunday (15:00). Livingston host County 24 hours earlier.