SHIRE 3 LIVINGSTON 1

Shire were originally refusing to play this fixture. They must now be glad they did as the team scored a resounding 3-1 victory over Livingston at Ochilview.

A superb first half showing had Shire 2-0 up inside the first half hour thanks to strikes from Stephen McGuire and they were unfortunate it wasn’t more.

A comic cuts goal from Robbie Winters in the last minute of the first half rather panicked Shire who never really got to grips with the second period until the last fifteen minutes and the points were made safe by Simon Lynch’s 82nd minute header.

The Shire team was starting to look familiar; for the fourth game in a row Jim McInally named the same starting eleven with the same formation. However, the substitutes bench is get a shake-up with Derek Ure named in the squad for the first time this season and Scott Johnston making a surprise return to.

But it was the visitors who made the brightest opening, putting Shire under a degree of pressure even if there was no end product.

A Simon Lynch run signalled an early threat for Shire but all it brought was a couple of fruitless corner kicks. That said, the home team who had the first real chance after eight minutes when Stephen McGuire tried to curl one into the top corner from the edge of the box.

But Shire’s pre-match injury concerns came back to haunt them only fifteen minutes in. David King, one of three worries before the game, indicated he couldn’t continue and he was replaced by Marc McKenzie with skipper Craig Tuly dropping back into a central defensive role.

Not that the changes inhibited Shire’s style. After 18 minutes Lynch played McKenzie in behind the defence and he crossed from the right. Rodgers’ shot from the edge of the box was saved by Livi keeper Roddy McKenzie but McGuire was in the right place at the right time to collect the rebound and shoot home from six yards out.

That settled Shire down and they started to dominate, especially in the middle of the park. Stevenson tried his luck with a few free-kicks from around the box and one of them forced the keeper into a smart save.

It was 2-0 on 27 minutes. Stevenson cracked in a long-range shot which had to be deflected wide for a corner to stop Rodgers deflecting it into the net. Richardson took the corner from the right and McGuire guided it into the net with a deft near post header.

There was very little from the visitors for long periods after that and Shire clearly had the upper hand. But, apart from a Lynch shot on the turn from the edge of the box, they failed to test the keeper.

A minute before the interval a real catalogue of errors let Livi back into the match. The defence failed to stop a run from deep by Robbie Winters and he easily beat the offside trap. But Barclay looked to have done his bit by saving at the striker’s feet only to see the ball squirm from his grasp and trickle over the line.

Shire took the setback on the chin and certainly started the second half in positive fashion. Two minutes in Stevenson stole the ball in midfield and raced in on goal and cracked in a netbound effort which was deflected wide for a corner.

But Livi did take a good deal of heart from their goal just prior to the interval and they should have perhaps equalised on 61 minutes when De Vita’s free-kick flew across goal and was headed wide by the unmarked Watson at the back post.

Four minutes later Talbot cut in behind the Shire defence and fired a cross-cum-shot that Barclay had to drive to touch the ball behind for a corner kick. Livi had plenty of possession round the box but couldn’t find the final ball to make it tell.

Shire survived a shout for a penalty and then a brilliant cross from De Vita which was headed back across the face of the goal but no visiting player was on hand to test Barclay.

Eventually, Shire found their way out of their problems and gathered their composure and more of a grip on the midfield. David Dunn replaced Rodgers in 72 minutes and his setpieces added an extra dimension to the threat posed by the home team.

But it was a Jamie Stevenson corner on 78 minutes that set up McKenzie for an effort from just outside the box that flew over the bar. Four minutes later McGuire was not far off completing his hat-trick but his shot was deflected for a corner which Dunn  flighted perfectly for Lynch to fire home a header from close range to make the points secure.

Lynch might have made it 4-1 late on but his attempt to dribble through the entire Livingston defence was thwarted just as he was about to shoot for goal.

SHIRE : Barclay, Hay, Richardson, King(McKenzie 15), Bolochoweckyj, Tully, Weaver, Stevenson, Lynch, McGure(Johnston 87), Rodgers(Dunn 72).

LIVINGSTON : McKenzie, Malone, Talbot, Sinclair, Moyes, Watson, Fox, Keaghan Jacobs, McParland(Husband 64), Robbie Winters(David Winters 76), De Vita.

REFEREE : K. Clancy

ATTENDANCE : 567.