- 26/05/2025
Following a dramatic 1-1 draw on Thursday thanks to Ronan Hale's 96th-minute penalty, Ross County and Livingston face off in the second leg of the Scottish Premiership play-off final.
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00:00that's good defending i think by eli campbell in the end but just a warning sign early on
00:07one of these goalkeeper come and take prior
00:11that's better from conor randall sometimes notice the other night is that
00:14robbie muirhead was allowed to get the ball into his chest and into his feet and the center
00:18halves were struggling to cope with him the first thing conor randall done there was drop onto the
00:22toes of robbie muirhead so that's been recognized and his position will slightly change tonight
00:27conor randall yes he still has a job to do in midfield but he's also going to look over his
00:31shoulder back to gail that's going to force my gamble to hit it out of play it's interesting
00:40you get the little tweaks in the movements it's not often you play a team back-to-back
00:43this is fascinating from a coaching point of view it is but you then have to analyze the game
00:48and you have to recognize where you were good where you struggled what you could improve
00:53and you've got to implement it over that short period but it's also good for players because
00:56it's fresh in their mind it's not a team they're playing from six or seven weeks ago it's only four
01:00days so the players should recognize that themselves your head again along with the throat
01:06corner randall you can see the first corner
01:12this is where they had the success this is where they got their first goal
01:16on thursday night livingston i thought throughout the game they posed problems from set plays
01:21i've lost can't they learn from it can they be better defensively
01:25because you don't really want to be going behind in this game tonight steven kelly to take
01:31kelly is deep and he says stays on his line and randall again
01:36that was a real ball hawk in the back line and gets the head of the way
01:54if you've got a weapon of a long throw you've got to use it haven't you particularly in the
01:57early stages of the game they've gained a little bit of territorial advantage livingston can they
02:02make it count it's that long through it's as good as a cross fraser heads it back in crucially
02:08rose county are winning the first ball brandon didn't want to waste it but he's given the ball
02:14away and pitman was back covering it was the opportunity for hail just don't replace it
02:22and that's something i've noted about ronan hale from the other night
02:36he has to be tidier at things like that he's a lovely touch lovely turn and it's just a needless
02:41pass given away under no pressure whatsoever so i just think it's all around game has to improve yes
02:46it's good you score goals you get penalty kicks and you carry a threat but from the side like
02:51ross county you can't continue to keep giving the ball away and i think meg loneal actually spoke
02:55about that during the week just because he's been called up the northern ireland squad he said
02:58it's all right game has to be better but it was just going to be my questions you will pick that
03:03up at a moment as pitman will play that across onto kelly right this bit expect the tackles to
03:10go and nick walsh will be fairly lenient you want to set your stall out early white this bit onto
03:17hail we're in the corner is george harman this bit's in the middle it's lifted almost too long
03:24but it comes back in good defending wilson cross it's just clear
03:32i was going to mention that from ronan hale's point of view you might get away with that at
03:37this level you're not going to get away with it at the international level so he has to sharpen
03:41well you say you get away with it at this level to an extent you do but
03:45you can't be detrimental to your team because you're lazy and you're sloppy it's not hard
03:49things you need to try it's simple five seven yard passes just a lack of concentration that's all it
03:54is or a lack of a bit of complacency
04:10here's hail they've called for offside the flag stayed down
04:13into the middle it goes and rolls it into the back of the net he's not scored in 20 games
04:21and that means so much to him and ross county get the opening goal well we're just talking about
04:27finish and his goal for ross county it's an ideal start for them just it's a lovely little pass
04:34it's just left foots maybe offside i'm not so sure certainly we'll have a check of it but
04:38it's really on selfies play that's the kind of player he can be when he concentrates when he's
04:43fully focused he loves playing off the left hand side although he gets gold he doesn't like being
04:47an out and out number nine he loves to drift wide committing that favoured right foot it would be
04:51easy for him to shoot from here but he lifts his head he's aware of josh and this but he didn't do
04:55enough on thursday night but he's answered his critics this evening if this goal counts it's a
05:00perfect start for ross county and a nightmare for livingston well it's what a premiership side
05:05wanted they got the first real chance in livingston on thursday night and prior made the save
05:13nervous moments as they wait for var to check justin is but knows that knows the international
05:21player just watches the ball was played through i think he's on side paul just i think he just
05:28from that angle we're getting his own side and you can hear by the tannoy system yeah the goal
05:33has stood it's a perfect start the ideal start for the home team there's no doubt there's more
05:37pressure on them being the premiership side dropping down as opposed to livingston who are
05:41looking to come up well you can feel the pressure lifting slightly off this ross county side
05:52but that really was terrific finish in the final last year they'd won it way through
05:57overs and they won by four goals to know in the second leg to make it fairly foregone conclusion
06:04but now they're going to try and press for a second kf80 up against fraser
06:09razor slides to ground and plays it off his opponent livingston just have to settle down
06:15it's not a disaster they were gonna have to score tonight it's funny because on thursday night
06:21ross county started better i felt as if livingston started better tonight but they didn't get the
06:26goal they had to set plays but i just think it's a better game already the slickness of the surface
06:30the grass we spoke about it looks immaculate surface the livingston surface would have been
06:34very critical for a number of years i think it's going to be relayed in the summer the new
06:37astroturf which is good but this is like a proper game tonight the speed of the ball
06:41it runs through it bounces through and certainly the home side are enjoying it
06:47ryan mcgowan plays the ball away your head tries to slide in
06:53and i'll go all the way back campbell
06:59sends it long again backed by ryan mcgowan
07:03smith had dropped inside pickman to finlesson
07:12pickman again
07:19and they have to bounce back quickly don't they livingston and i don't even mean by getting the
07:22goal just mean by getting hold of that ball again starting to dictate the game stephen kelly was
07:26influential for long spells on thursday night he's got to get on the ball jamie brandon going in there
07:31gives him a different dynamic and i think it's got pittman he's the one that will be released
07:36from midfield to try and support the front player robbie muirhead george harman sends it clear
07:42fraser back to prior
07:47fraser again
07:48then
07:56won't panic the team used to winning decent record on the road this season
08:03we did wonder with davian martindale and his players regret
08:08not taking more of the chances okay they didn't have many but they certainly had better chances
08:12than ross county and you think they possibly needed that second goal just to give them a
08:16little bit of a cushion because it was wiped out because they didn't get it
08:21here comes smith smith to the byline sent across
08:26and again just good defending there's but the goal scorer opens things up he'd scored
08:31this season against motherwell against dundee and hearts and scored in 2025 the time to do so
08:40he disappointed me on thursday night paul i've gotta say josh nesbitt if you want to play
08:44in that number 10 role you have to be influential you've got to get on the ball
08:47you've got to make forward runs you've got to make slide rule passes he didn't do any of that
08:52and at times he left no kenner and conor randall i said it a little bit as a midfield too
08:58there's one or two scottish clubs we're looking at former central coast mariner league winner
09:03player of the year in australia in the team of the year as well when they won the title
09:08there's much expected of him a good old sprinkling of aussies right throughout scottish football
09:20and the finlayson off the bench in the last five which starts tonight
09:25your head sends it long again campbell happy to concede the corner it's interesting is it
09:33the fans should be a little bit oh you know we've given away a corner you're one nil up
09:38everybody just breathes that little bit easier yeah they just relax that little bit more
09:43because he knew they had said they knew they had to be better for what they were on thursday night
09:46i think already they're showing they're prepared to be better defensively getting ahead of the way
09:54there's brandon well he is such a danger jamie brandon scored against paddock thistle in the
10:00playoff semi-final one of three goals he scored this season got the better layer of hail and let
10:06fly that's the prime example of ronald hale not wanting to play against defenders doesn't like
10:10people getting tight to him he's got to fight to get hold of that ball but jamie brandon really
10:14proactive i think when he gets there though he just gets a little bit too excited just settle
10:18himself make sure you hit the target just went for power got underneath it and took it away the crossbar
10:24one nil on the right two on an aggregate to scottish premiership side ross county
10:42just completed our fifth season in the top flight ross county
10:46top flight nine of the last 10 years
10:48away by campbell
10:57headed away by wilson
11:02smith on the inside
11:06that's where the ball goes
11:10that might break for pittman pittman drops the shoulder gets the shot away
11:15oh not a bad effort from scott pittman 50th game of the season he scored eight times
11:20and found himself just a little bit of space yeah and that's louis smith once again he was really
11:25proactive on the right hand side the other night he initially started that move skipped inside
11:29george harman suddenly the game opens up for him but that's what you expect scott pittman to be
11:33roundabout robbie muirhead being that number 10 that aggressive run player
11:37from midfield just couldn't generate enough pace or direction on the ball
11:41who's sliding and it's been a busy few days for ryan mcgowan new dad's twins arrived on friday
11:56i can't help but think that livingston has got to try and find a way to get louis smith on the ball
12:00more already he's been down the right and had a cross with his right foot and he came inside with
12:04his left foot it's like ashford struggling thursday and already george harman has shown
12:09george harman has shown that he's not comfortable playing against him either
12:14picked up by brandon away from this bit i'm just watching louis smith he's he started he's quite
12:24central compared to where he started the other night if i'm livingston i want more out on that
12:29right flank well suppose the only reason maybe that's happening is the ball is the opposite
12:33side of the pitch so wide players tend to drift in with the ball as the ball starts to make its
12:37way back across the pitch he'll get chalk on his boot chalk on his boots in this right hand
12:41side so it's probably just a defensive position as it is there's the running start to move out
12:50that also poses a problem for george harman does he go in with him does he pass him on
12:55does he go in and leave the space for daniel finnison to go out
12:58doing the outside so it's a little bit of cat and mouse sometimes with players
13:12and the livingston drummer hasn't lost their rhythm despite the fact they are one nil down
13:19finnison can't gather he'll chase on mcgowan just enough of a tug as the ball came back to
13:26josh nesbitt for the free kick to be awarded it's a sloppy ball from danny wilson he's trying to
13:32play a diagonal pass the chest height into daniel finnison into the middle of the pitch that's a
13:36better ball george harman read it really well he was lucky to get away with it smith played that
13:43off campbell
14:05they've definitely been more progressive tonight ross county than what they were
14:09on thursday i thought they were very deliberate they just kept wanting to
14:12go long and throw it long and hope that samu would make something happen or hale would make
14:16something happen in the first half they're taking their time there's more of a structured build-up
14:20getting the ball into randall getting the ball into hale dropping into little pockets of space
14:24nesbitt said more touches tonight what he had in the early stages of the game on thursday so
14:28that's something they clearly spoke about pitman brings that down well nightingale has to flick it
14:33away here's the opportunity of our smith tries to get away from nightingale brilliant ball in
14:38and turn behind the lackey right is not happy with what he's seeing in front of him and you
14:43can't blame him once again lew smith he gets one nightingale in the wide area he doesn't want to
14:48be there just skips past him easily scott pitman i wonder could have made more of an effort to get
14:53a touch a clean touch at the near post it could have been one one well the feature of this game
15:01is that the men taking the corners of the two top goal scorers for the respective teams running here
15:07and there will be muirhead
15:11quality of the ball in not good enough on that occasion hale held up well
15:18up against brandon
15:21looks like burnt muscle
15:27he's obviously had the message from his manager ronan hale because the ball popped out from the
15:30corner kick this time they got the held of it sorry got the hold of it brandon was close to
15:34him but he held them off managed to link up the play and take them up the pitch just little small
15:39things that people don't recognize but that's where he has to be better well from a ross kelly
15:45perspective that's what you call efficiency one of one both teams have scored in five of the last
15:52six meetings 20 goals in the previous six meetings so we don't normally want for the ball heading
16:01in the back of the net 19 years since the last nil nil between these two
16:10scoring taking just seven minutes tonight
16:15i'm not convinced with the ross county back three there's just been a few moments that would
16:19worry me if i was don cowie yes they've got the goal but i'm not too sure they've got enough to
16:23keep a clean sheet just a few nervous moments clearances touches a little bit of misunderstanding
16:28at times i'm gonna have to improve i mean clean sheets have definitely been an issue for
16:35ross county and i think goalkeeper toranao said just four clean sheets in 22
16:43it's never present since coming along to ross county
16:50the last team that ross county kept at bay and that's the last time they won
16:59campbell his contract expires with everton
17:07interesting to see where he goes next term
17:12we spoke a bit ahead of the game didn't we ross county the scottish premiership only one
17:16scottish player starts the game tonight that's jordan white there was none started thursday
17:21night so is that a worrying trend it's drifting through scottish footballers or just with the
17:25roster anything i'm sure it's probably a discussion for another day but you'd imagine
17:30they would prefer some more home-based players maybe there's young players coming through or
17:35players from the central belt of scotland coming up to play on the highlands
17:40there's a few players just on the verge on the bench tonight smith robson
17:44rooms and coil they've got a few but you want to see that scottish thread running
17:50through the team here's connor randall randall back on to jordan white former livingston player
18:00hail here's the shout of right cross into the middle turned away
18:07and for this it was important we know ken has won it well here's george harman harman
18:12sends it forward to white that's him we're calling for offside didn't come harman into the middle
18:17in a way
18:27here's the goal scorer this bit tries to get in there try to play it back
18:30it flicked off a hand but it's not a penalty
18:36he's robbie muirhead tried to hold off will nightingale nightingale striding forward
18:40for
18:43harman pale livingston look a little rattled here hail into the middle the touch from jordan white
18:51and it goes wide but a good period of pressure much better all around here's the handball
18:56shout i think it is a handball there's no doubt but the distance the ball travels it's not a
19:01natural position because it's coming back down to his side it's not going up it's coming back
19:05down again so never going to be a penalty kick but we said ahead of the game that ross county
19:09had to be better they had to be more proactive from what they were trying to do and they're
19:12passing be more deliberate and they're slower build up controlled play i think they've done
19:17that conor and i think it's been excellent in midfield that was an area of the pitch where
19:21they lost out on thursday night i think tonight they've got the hold of that midfield area and
19:25conor randall's been their driving force for that
19:34acrobatic there for me like campbell
19:39kelly lovely touch in turn from steven kelly
19:45no way through
19:53yeah they're not as cohesive tonight livingston i thought they were very good the other night
19:57they're having little spells here and there but there's a few misplaced passes
20:00it could just be the nerves it could be the edginess coming it could be that early goal
20:03that's just affected them mentally but they haven't been as slick as what they were
20:10it's ryan mcgowan all the way through campbell away josh nisbet
20:17jordan white was fouled by danny wilson that's what you want you were talking about bring the
20:23ball in bring two feet the defender makes the challenge all the better because ryan mcgowan
20:30and and danny wilson they haven't got the pace or the dynamism they once had as younger players
20:36so they want to be aggressive they want to get tight to players they want to go in behind center
20:40forwards and josh nisbet is the number 10 so if you can hold them off lay the ball off i don't
20:45think they have the recovery pace to get in behind their only option tonight is to go close
20:49and try and put the center forward off both former internationals for scotland and australia
20:56respectively as the ball comes all the way through
21:02jordan amesat
21:06appreciate dortmund youth goalkeeper sheffield united and he went next on his travels
21:15there's conor randall it's too long
21:22even look at those patterns that's terrible here's ronan hale hale's got the possibility
21:27hale's got the possibility here for two now it's a dreadful mistake by livingston steven
21:33kelly the ball played to him by jerome prior and ronan hale makes them pay ronan hale's on a
21:40terrific goal scoring run and he's now scored in all three matches against livingston this season
21:46is that the moment that puts ross county into the scottish premiership they lead here by two to nil
21:52it's just such a dangerous ball into the feet of steven kelly although it's a really heavy
21:56touch pre-or should just take his time steven kelly's looking right at him what can he do with
22:02the ball you're going to give him i think it's a poor choice throw it wide of the goal you make
22:05it a second chance but the minute ronan hale knicks the ball off steven kelly's only going
22:09to be one outcome he's been prolific this season he's been relentless when he's had his opportunities
22:14in front of goal don covey he'll just be starting to relax his shoulders a little bit he won't get
22:19too relaxed but he'll certainly be feeling better by himself but livingston have gone
22:23and shot themselves in the foot it's a disastrous goal to give away just when they
22:28were building their way back into the game that's a huge step forward for ross county
22:34by six goals in his last eight matches for ronan hale and from a david martindale
22:41perspective it is worst case scenario two down 25 minutes
22:47and the frustration is clear for all to see
22:51it is but he's got to regain his composure as well as a manager the last thing players want to be
22:55doing is looking off to the sideline and seeing the manager waving his arms and sulking and
22:59he's now has to inspire them hale he's got nesbitt inside him the two goal scorers loony combined
23:06it's wilson who makes the block ross county get their first corner ross county have been
23:12wonderfully efficient in front of goal tonight they have been but livingston can't feel sorry
23:19for themselves he can't allow this game to drift away from them because they've considered a poor
23:24goal they have to refocus they've got to press a reset button danny wilson and ryan mcgowan that's
23:30the experience in the team they've got to be getting around your teammates giving them a
23:33little bit of encouragement it can't get any worse at this stage of the game or the tie their way
23:40well they've got a spring of their step and george harman is going to deliver
23:45it's a tall ball headed back across and there's the chance for nor kenna
23:54it would have been offside and nor kenna yep there's the flag got himself with a good little
24:00position it's the old story steven finish it and then worry about it yeah initially i thought
24:04they'd overhit the corner kick but clearly jordan white i couldn't see him standing at the back
24:08post so because daniel finished and slipped that allowed jordan white to put the free header back
24:12in livingston they're still trying to play it from the back they're still taking risks so just
24:17you know that ends up just being a needless ball when you're under a little bit of pressure pull
24:22push everyone up the pitch throw it long and try and fight for straps
24:25in seconds higher up the pitch just relieve a little bit of pressure
24:30here's the opportunity for the long throw rolling your head
24:34it's going 16 of 47 matches this season he's set up man right here
24:43long throw in again morse county get first contact
24:47your head goes in again it was a decent ball mattanio couldn't get there
24:57i think he just slid that forward but he tried to pick out in this bit
25:03i think the message from don curry tonight has been no risks no simple straight square balls or
25:10flat balls in the midfield if it's not on and the guy receiving the ball's got plenty of time
25:15miss him out just play in the livingston half if you have to work your magic get your link up play
25:20get your one twos get your patterns of play doesn't have to be pretty right through the
25:24thirds just at the top end conor randall that will be a free kick
25:33bounces himself back up
25:35under control and randall knocking his knee so here comes steven kelly
25:44making sure to deliver with that right foot
25:51you got the loan spell with ross county played 29 times back in 2021
25:56um
26:11well he's the one player that dv martin dillard would want the ball to fall to
26:14he's got a wonderful left foot i think it's actually jordan white
26:17he keeps himself big he keeps himself strong because that was certainly fizzing towards
26:22the goal of jordan the mesa the big powerful figure of jordan white puts her out for a corner
26:29again queuing up for it conor randall again
26:32i was willing kelly tries to get it to montana kelly's there again fraser calling for it
26:42roby fraser trying to work the one two should be defended
26:46he will concede the corner it's again part of your safety first mantra just reset i mean
26:53he could easily give it back to the goalkeeper everybody start nope i'll deal with it i'm
26:56controlling the ball i'll sort the situation out but this is where livingston when you're
27:00on top of them you're getting balls in the box and you've lost county in the back foot can you strike
27:06steven kelly blazer and goalkeeper again stays on his line fraser goes back to kelly
27:17that's good defending can't go on it well
27:22that's a big difference as well how many first contacts that ross county have won on their
27:26own box they didn't win enough the other night to put them under pressure okay they've lost a
27:30couple tonight but one more than what they've lost that's probably from the demands of don
27:35cow he's putting his players and with jordan white coming into the side with respect to
27:42alex samuel he's a much better defender he's there he reads the game well in defensive position
27:48pitman nightingale
27:59second season on loan from wimbledon had an injury so he's not played too often this term
28:03so
28:22coming forward through finlayson
28:26smith having the touch line and he comes now
28:28now smith to get away from harman that's better from george harman he got his distance right he
28:37knew what he was going to do he was wanting to go down the outside all day long he never
28:42looked as if he was going to come back on his left foot just put him in the area made the strong tackle
28:50well move your head got the scottish cup schooling started between these two sides
28:55on the penalty spot they're trying to conjure up some magic as they're two down
29:01jordan white again first contact sixth corner of this first half for livingston yet they're two down
29:09and half an hour pulls from nisbett inhale
29:17how they would love a goal just to plant their little seed of doubt
29:21can you take them out of their comfort zone
29:26crossing comes there is there goes up well he gathers at the second attempt
29:33and it's certainly a sore one
29:37i think it's danny wilson who gets a header is it it's actually between him and daniel finlayson
29:42i think daniel finlayson actually heads the back of danny wilson's head and danny wilson heads the
29:46ball he has exactly what's up two players going for the same ball but jordan and misa
29:51he fumbles it first time around has to be quick to react to just the odds of the nerves around
29:58the global energy stadium you can see daniel finlayson i don't know whether it's his jaw or
30:03whether it's his cheekbone but you can see he's determined on the end of the ball i think my
30:09physics teacher would explain to me that if you put force into something that puts force into
30:14something but that's not what either player was looking for but again the main thing from their
30:19perspective steven is they want the header we hope obviously and you'll find this is okay but
30:25that was better i mean essentially that's six corners and really one one chance i think because
30:31jordan white is standing right in the middle of the six yard box so on that occasion what they
30:35tried to do was miss him out completely try and go to the back of the six yard box and allow
30:40wilson got ryan mcgowan in there as well stevie martindale said he brought daniel finlayson in
30:45because of his physicality don't go he's probably thinking the same i'm bringing jordan weight in
30:49because of his physicality so he probably just cancelled each other out good thing in scottish
30:57football and right across football is of course players get well looked after in terms of potential
31:01concussions and the likes that's what's happening finlayson there's the goal from
31:07ronan hale his second in four days against livingston i mean he took his penalty incredibly
31:14well do you know he's a confidence player i spoke to his manager his old manager back in northern
31:19island jim magilton he said he's a confidence player so he started the game he's had an assist
31:24and he's had a goal and now he'll be loving life the game will come simple to him his touches will
31:29be nice as he's full of energy he's full of running because he's had that little boost
31:33white started that attack by winning it into kennett combining with harman
31:38randall wanted it back i think i'll say i'm glad to see he's okay
31:45george harman 105th game now for norris county
31:52he's finishing his third season with the staggies
32:04yes
32:13stabbed away we could hear the county page saying get it over get it over but they don't need to
32:18rush but even his cross you're trying to put too much pace on the ball when you've got a target
32:23like jordan white just drifted into the six yard box allow him to attack it he'll try the back
32:29he'll didn't work on that occasion he still will have to work hard to get it out
32:34onto your head i think he's come across to this left side covered well
32:51i think the goals aside don cowie will be more comfortable with his team's performance
32:56just structurally defensively but also their build-up play and the patterns of play would
33:00be much better this evening and to be fair they've been on such a bad run paul you know ahead of the
33:05other night it's been i mean the last three games they've drawn one each they haven't won in 10 it's
33:10a horrible slide here comes smith plays it in deep it's going to be another corner i mean last
33:21season ross county when they went into the bottom six took four points and don't care he must have
33:26thought this season simply that wasn't good enough they can't do any worse well they did they took
33:30two yeah so there was naturally a little bit of vulnerability in the squad confidence was fragile
33:40this one's long first contact made by county
33:46that's not going
33:50also put this in context from a livingston point of view livingston's biggest defeat this season
33:55was three nil to confirm that only once have they lost by more than two goals and they've
34:00barely lost at all so it's a position they've not found themselves in too often
34:05that's been said to try and close down fraser
34:10randall
34:14can't be making himself hard to get past
34:19mcgowan look for montaigne exactly all right you got the touch
34:24that's a good one
34:25can't be making yourself hard to get past
34:29mcgowan look for montagna exactly all right you got the touch
34:34it's interesting you're talking about the confidence when the confidence is low but
34:38it can come back very quickly getting that first goal is giving a huge lift getting a second one
34:42and suddenly you start to get that positive vibe throughout your body everyone starts to
34:46work that a little bit harder a wee bit of belief starts to come back to you
34:50but again when you're like that suddenly if you lose a goal it can suddenly flip again so
34:54you just have to manage it the game management's important
34:59campbell played it away pittman went up montagna tries to bring it down
35:02conor randall went through on the ball
35:06fraser just a little slip
35:11next goal between these two absolutely crucial
35:16finlayson wins the header nightingale runs into a little bit of trouble and fraser
35:21oh he's just playing that to try and get it away anything else biggie burnham's kelly was a bonus
35:27he'll be so disappointed at his part in that second goal he needs to shrug it off and it's
35:34so unlike him because he's such a good technical footballer stephen kelly that i just think it's
35:39a straight ball when a goalkeeper rolls a straight ball out to a midfield player what's he going to
35:43do with it all he can do is give him the back because he can't see what's behind him it's
35:47his receiving position isn't right so for me it's a risky ball from from pre-or the goalkeeper he
35:52doesn't need to do it i think robbie fraser was free in the outside and he could have rolled it
35:56outside the goal but i didn't know stephen kelly was going to have a
36:00heavy touch and running here the one player you don't want it to fall to is sitting waiting
36:05priority from the sun when it comes to close down
36:15it's interesting here ross katie are not afraid to flood players forward to try and
36:19obstruct the way that livingston are bringing it out and causing problems like that there's
36:24been too many long balls from livingston in the last 10 minutes aimless balls forward that becomes
36:30a bit too desperate a bit too predictable because you've got a big set of forward doesn't mean
36:34they say you throw everything at him the ross county back three have been better tonight i
36:38still think there's a flaw in them there's a mistake in them somewhere but they have been
36:43a little bit better than straight balls up tonight so they've got to go back to giving
36:46the ball to stephen kelly giving the ball to jamie brandon giving the ball to the feet of lewis smith
36:52on cue smith trying to release muirhead gets it back harman smith does brilliantly trying to get
36:58past nightingale lewis smith it's all lewis smith that is a sensational goal that keeps livingston
37:05banging this playoff tie lewis smith brilliantly weaved his way through and fired livingston back
37:13to life well he was a go-to man in the first leg he gets a little bit of luck the ball comes off
37:20eli campbell but after that it's just about his determination and his pace and his dribbling
37:25ability just to create that space for himself now he can't get near him once he gets into the box
37:31i thought he was actually going to visit across goal but he was at a good enough angle where he
37:35just put his laces through the back of the ball it's a terrific finish a terrific individual goal
37:40and the inspiration that livingston need they were plodding away through their game they were
37:45struggling to create chances they needed someone to step up and boy did he step up it's now game on
37:51scottish football rarely disappoints all to play for once more to one ross county three two
37:59on aggregate five minutes to half time and all of a sudden from strolling down easy street
38:07it's a little bit more difficult terrain for ross county and look at his starting position
38:12you spoke about him drifting inside because he's drifting inside and inside because he's
38:17in a little bit of space no one's going to pick him up the ball ricochets to him and then he goes
38:22and works his magic i like the variety in his play but his directness has been really good over these
38:27two games good experience with hamilton aki's six years there scored in playoffs for hamilton
38:37against the menace against aloha
38:41and he has brought the livingston support back to life too here's smith again
38:50your head
38:54blazer kelly tunnel doesn't have the legs to get there but it's played out and off on by
39:01right thank you all right
39:06and i was talking about the confidence when you score goals you feel good everyone's enjoying
39:10themselves now when the goal goes against you how did you react the people go into hiding
39:16but they look for someone else to take responsibility no you've got to do it
39:19yourself so it's a real test between now and half time before don covey can speak to his players
39:24to see how they respond to that goal going against them
39:27so
39:28christian montagno
39:30pulls the ball back
39:34looks at to fraser brandon directing operations
39:42so
40:00well he looks more anxious than he did five minutes ago that's don kelly
40:06you can never relax as a manager you can never think well that's the job done or we're in a
40:11good position because it can all change very very quickly your head holds up and listen and support
40:20there's the interchange smith
40:24let's have a decent right foot cross on him as well and it goes when tanya sends it across
40:31looks pretty calm as he takes that but those moments make the hearts
40:35of the roscoe defense be a little faster lewis smith once again he's been instrumental in this
40:40right hand side or in the central position and the thing is he's not got a trick he just knocks
40:45the ball and uses that little change of pace that he's got so can george harman get a little bit
40:50closer to him it can't allow him just to knock the ball past and put a simple cross into the box
40:54far too easy he's gonna get punished eventually
40:59that's an old saying isn't it you can't teach pace he's got it
41:03the thing is it's not blistering pace he's just got that little deceptive change
41:13jordan white being booed ryan mcgowan taking him down
41:17and nick walsh deciding that ryan mcgowan left one on jordan white so it wasn't just a free kick it
41:23was a message and it's a message that's come at a price the thing is nick walsh was right on it
41:29jordan white lays the ball off it's a little bit of a i think it's a little bit of a stamp
41:35when you see ryan mcgowan sometimes complaining you think he's never made a foul in his life
41:40he tried to leave a little bit on him i think i'm not too sure he caught him an awful lot but
41:43you can see what he was trying to do and i think nick walsh is probably booking for the intent
41:47of trying to just leave a little bit on jordan white but could they get a goal before halftime
41:52this would be crucial if they could for livingston they cannot afford the undo
41:56all that hard work they've put in to get themselves back into this tie
42:02going on hell
42:05curls the ball in and no takers
42:11i'm not sure the way that county was set up they were ever going to get there
42:19and it's kind of free kick actually you expect the left footer to play and just
42:23spiral that away towards the ownership play it was wasteful really you know there was plenty of
42:28players up i think in that area of the pitch can you move the ball it's a very difficult angle
42:34daniel on to smith smith again dancing his way through there's a deflection stump player
42:45hail to ryan mcgowan smith again that comes from harman and harman knocks it off smith
42:54and ironically when we tune it up you just get the sense that it's ross county you want the break
43:00well even the ball coming into the box there's an edginess you can see the players there's a
43:04desperation just to try and clear it they've added real tension to that ross county back line because
43:10they've got the goal livingston and david martindale has to get his players to recognize that
43:15don't be frightened across don't be fighting to put them under pressure
43:18see if they can crumble under that threat
43:23stoppage time of the global energy stadium finally known as victoria park
43:34martindale has much to say he'll have more to say
43:36in a couple of moments when he gets his team in the dressing room
43:45daniel rises well kelly tried to make the run but it's offside
43:49so i think the dynamic of the game has changed again tonight in the early part it was all ross
44:05county but it looks as if now it's swung back in the favor of livingston they'll be disappointed
44:09half times on the horizon because they feel as if they have ross county on the rack ross county
44:13desperate for the referee's whistle so they can get in and reset and clear their minds and don't
44:18we can have a word and try and get some positivity into their minds for livingston they'll be
44:22absolutely desperate for that second half to start to try and chase ross county down once again
44:29it's interesting isn't because i mean don't care he's got to say to his players guys you're ahead
44:34you know that that's the key i wanted you to come in at half time ahead and
44:37barring disaster they should do but it just feels a little strange because you've conceded
44:43what was such a good goal it does and he knows his players confidence is fragile he knows they
44:51haven't been in a good place of late and winds have been tough to come by so they have to make
44:55sure they're a bit stronger mentally and are able to cope with it and today it goes where i'm going
45:03gets that away
45:08lighting gail does well
45:12this bit on the inside get you back to this but here's jordan white's it's not pittman snapping in
45:26it's been a good game isn't it i'm really enjoying it i have to say and
45:29the whole dynamics of it when one team looks out of sight and suddenly they're not and you can just
45:33see everything unfolding in front of us trying to get there mcgowan gets it away
45:39in two three two matches between these two and a one each draw in the last three meetings
45:45plenty of excitement
45:49and this one doesn't get there harman doesn't get the goalkeeper doesn't find his man
45:53here's ronan hale pitman came back did enough noah kennett back to nisbet
46:01ross county can they fashion out one final chance of the half
46:07as akil writes referee will say you're taking too long therefore
46:13the halftime whistle will go well entertainment almost guaranteed in the playoffs but it looked
46:20for a while steven craig and the ross county of that two goal lead had done for livingston but
46:25that man there lewis smith just dragged his team back into the tag well they needed something
46:30special they were applauding the way they weren't being creative enough they were hoping for set
46:35plays they were throwing long balls forward they needed someone they needed an inspiration
46:41to give them all the lift and that's exactly what lewis smith done ross county looked home
46:44on holes they looked comfortable now the whole dynamic has changed again we're no further forward
46:50to knowing who's going to be in the scottish premiership next season ross county or livingston
46:54and that's why we love it it's been terrific between these two coming up a look back at all
46:59of the action
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