Failure to kill off teams sees Lions out of second-spot race

LIVINGSTON won their first home point in six games on Saturday – but defender Paul Watson admits the Lions players were left disappointed after the 0-0 draw with Morton ended any hopes John Hughes’ side had of finishing second in Division One.

With the current ambiguity surrounding the situation regarding promotion from the First Division this season, Watson says Livi were keen to put themselves in the frame by clinching second spot, but a cagey 90 minutes on Almondvale’s bumpy surface saw the home side dominate without finding the net.

The former Ipswich defender insists the side are on the verge of killing teams off on their own patch in the way they have done brilliantly on the road as of late, and will look to build on their recent progress at Dens Park next week and over the summer.

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He admitted: “We’re disappointed with the draw with Dundee getting beaten. If we’d won, we’d have been going up to Dens to try and win and finish second. With the story with Rangers just now, that could have led to promotion so we’re a bit disappointed at not winning the game.

“I thought we dominated the match and in the first two thirds of the pitch I thought we were excellent, but it was just that last third where the final ball killed us really. We’ll go away and work on that, and once we get that sorted out we’ll kill teams off.

“We couldn’t break them down. A lot of that comes from the pitch, which is horrible just now. It’s the same for both teams, obviously, but, hopefully, we’ll get that sorted for next season and it’ll be a different story. We’re delighted the pitch is going to get redone. It just needs to be a bit firmer for us.”

The Lions had the best chance of the opening stages when Keaghan Jacobs saw his low effort tipped wide by Morton stopper Alan Combe, while Peter MacDonald was denied by a brilliant goal-line clearance by Craig Barr at the other end in an even first-half.

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Marc McNulty looked set to break the deadlock just past the hour mark as he broke free on the edge of the box, but Combe beat away his effort and Livi couldn’t find a winner despite their second-half pressure.