Livingston 2-1 Cowdenbeath: Win calms Livi

Livingston striker Jordan White attracts the attentions of Thomas OBrien yesterday. Photograph: Neil Hanna Photography

LIVINGSTON supporters found some respite at the end of another troubling week for the turbulent West Lothian club, writes Craig Fowler at Energy Assets Arena.

Issued a notice of complaint last week for failing to disclose shareholder Neil Rankine’s apparent stakes in other SPFL clubs, Livingston were then handed a transfer embargo over allegations of illegal bonus payments.

Unable to add to their squad, they should at least be assured that the side is good enough to keep them in the division, as this win suggests.

Barring a sluggish first ten minutes, they were comfortable for most of the match and once they earned the lead it never looked like being relinquished.

“We’ll not let the off-field issues affect them,” insisted manager John McGlynn. “We’re purely the football side of things and we’re just concentrating on the football. Getting the first three points is very important. It gives us a confidence boost going into the Hearts game.

“We were just a bit too predictable in the first half, but we got a great reaction at the start of the second.”

The first half was an entertainment atrocity. Livingston took control after the visitors’ bright start, but neither did much of note with the territorial advantage. Jordan White’s tight-angled half-volley, which Thomas Flynn pushed wide, was the only chance worth mentioning. It took only 27 seconds for the second half to be better than the 45 minutes of the first. Keaghan Jacobs’s cross-cum-shot almost caught out Flynn at his front post. The keeper managed to parry but only succeeded in knocking it into the path of Danny Mullen who scored at the second attempt.

White headed wide soon after but the big striker would not be denied on 73 minutes when he broke the offside trap and side-stepped around Flynn to score.

Cowden went 2-4-4 for the final few minutes and earned a consolation with Lewis Milne collecting a cross and netting in 87 minutes.