Mckay at the double as Ross County overcome lacklustre Livingston
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Ross County 2
Livingston 0
Scorer - Mckay (3, 60)
Ross County registered a first win since mid-December against Livingston thanks to a double from Billy Mckay.
The form book would have had Livingston as the heavy favourites going into the contest, but the Staggies got their just rewards for improved performances in recent weeks with goals in the third and 60th minutes.
While Livingston remained unchanged from their 1-0 win over Motherwell last weekend, County made six changes and changed shape to a back five to try and stop a side they had already conceded eight goals to in the league this season.
But the Staggies did not have to wait long to make an impact at the other end, as they went ahead after just three minutes.
Sean Kelly delivered a cross from the left into a busy penalty area, but captain Marcus Fraser had time to take the ball down with a lovely touch and lay it off for Billy Mckay to finish.
That goal gave County something to hold on to early on, and they might have been thankful that cushion was there because there was not much quality to the play in the first half.
Mckay linked up well at times with Lee Erwin and Harry Paton, but not far enough up the field to trouble Robbie McCrorie, while Nathan Baxter in the other goal was a spectator for the most part.
It was an indication of how the match was going that in spells the ball seemed to spend more time in the air than it did on the deck.
As the half-time interval approached though, Livingston started to come into the game more – getting the ball down and passing it about.
Aaron Taylor-Sinclair's eyes will have lit up when a Craig Sibbald corner found him unmarked on the far side of the County box, but Ross Draper got out quickly to charge down his shot.
Lyndon Dykes, so often impressive for the Lions this season, then began to make an impact, and he went closest to scoring for the visitors.
Picking the ball up outside a crowded box, he danced his way past two defenders before playing a nice one-two with Steven Lawless, but he could only find the side-netting from close range.
Livingston continued to threaten a revival after the break, and Scott Pittman's half volley nine minutes into the second half went close without bothering Baxter.
But, maybe against the run of play, County scored an all-important second on the hour mark.
Iain Vigurs won the ball back as Livingston were trying to push up the park, and played in Mckay who had broken the offside trap.
Livi's defenders seemed to stop expecting the flag, but it stayed down and Mckay went round the keeper to find the net and make it 2-0.
Both sides defended fairly well from there, with only Dykes being left open and heading towards goal for what was an easy save in the end for Baxter.
That was representative of the evening as a whole for Livingston, who barely threatened County's goal.
Frustration started to show towards the end as they picked up multiple bookings, but they can have no complaints about the end result as they left Dingwall empty-handed.
