Ross County pegged back by Livingston as Premiership clash ends level
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Ross County 1 (Shaw)
Livingston 1 (Devlin)
Ross County welcomed 300 supporters back into the stadium to watch their side draw 1–1 against Livingston.
Oli Shaw scored his second goal in as many weeks to put the Staggies ahead in the first half, but Nicky Devlin denied County all three points when he equalised after the break.
Stuart Kettlewell made four changes to his starting line-up, picking the same 11 players that finished the match against Dundee United last time out, to try and find a winning formula.
Livingston made brought three new faces into their own starting line-up, with Alan Forrest, Scott Robertson and Steve Lawson all coming into the team.
The evening got off to a cagey start though, with neither side threatening to break the deadlock.
County's man-to-man defending was solid, and though there were some nice passages of play in the middle of the park they were all too far away from goal to make an impression on the scoreline.
With the tie in the balance, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas had a golden opportunity to put the visitors in front when a group of Staggies defenders rushed forward to meet a throw in, only for it to go over their heads.
That gave the Arsenal youth product the time and space to turn and shoot – only for his effort to be blazed well off-target.
There was a moment of concern for County when stand-in captain Michael Gardyne required treatment after being brought down by Nicky Devlin, but that turned to joy when Oli Shaw scored from the dead ball.
On-loan Rangers midfielder Stephen Kelly took the free kick, keeping it low but in the air, and Shaw stooped to connect with the ball and guide it past Max Stryjek into the far corner.
A much brighter start to the second half brought Livingston into the game though.
Scott Pittman was the first man to get a sight of goal, only to drag his effort just the wrong side of the post, but their perseverance would pay off in the 55th minute.
Coll Donaldson was dragged wide to deal with the ball, but as he tried to switch positions back with Tom Grivosti Pittman made a dangerous run down the left wing.
With players out of position, he had the time to send a dangerous ball across the face of goal, where Nicky Devlin slid in to draw the Lions level.
Although not quite end-to-end, both sides did have chances to score a late winner.
Emmanuel-Thomas moved out wide to cause chaos in the Staggies backline, going around Ross Doohan but just about being held at bay by multiple County defenders.
At the other end of the pitch, substitute Regan Charles-Cook stung the gloves of Stryjek after cutting inside.
However, just 24 hours after Bonfire Night there were no fireworks to be found at the very end as the sides could not be separated before the full time whistle.
