Livingston boss Paul Jaconelli challenges the team to bounce back after points dropped

A late equaliser from Morton’s Jacqui Seagrave cancelled out Shannon Mulligan’s opener as Livingston were held to a 1-1 draw at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
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The sides came into the game on opposite ends of the table. Livingston was 15 points clear at the top of the Championship whereas Morton sat rock bottom of the league. However, the Ton more than met the challenge and nullified the hosts strong attack throughout the game.

“There will be games in the league where this will happen again, not only to us, but to the other teams” Livingston Head Coach Paul Jaconelli told the Edinburgh Evening News. “It's now how we come back from this now and make the difference. It's how we react to this.

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“You’ll find that the players are more upset with themselves, I don’t need to tell them that. At half time we went over that and they felt that they could do better. They can be their own worst critics. They will be unhappy right now and they’ll feel it.”

Livingston are aiming to win promotion to the SWPL2 this season. Credit: Alex Todd | Sportpix for SWFLivingston are aiming to win promotion to the SWPL2 this season. Credit: Alex Todd | Sportpix for SWF
Livingston are aiming to win promotion to the SWPL2 this season. Credit: Alex Todd | Sportpix for SWF

Mulligan almost got the opener for the hosts early on, firing her shot just past the post. Sharon Hughes-Lee went closest for Livingston in the first-half. She managed to scuffle the ball off one of Morton's defenders and bend the ball just wide. Rachael McConnachie had the best chance of the half as the Morton forward found herself two on one with the keeper but she fired her shot straight at Charlotte Ferguson.

Livingston started the half with more intensity as they aimed to take the lead. Rebecca Jaconelli should have got the opener for the hosts as Jen Dodds squared the ball to her inside the box only for her shot to land straight into the keeper's arms. It seemed like it would take something special to break down Morton’s stubborn defence and luckily for the hosts Mulligani had that magic. From a free-kick, she managed to wrap her foot around the ball just outside the box and fire it over the keeper to nestle into the net. Brogan Anderson looked destined to add a second however the ball was cleared off the line. Late on, the visitors would equalise as Seagrave scored a brilliant goal from distance.

Right at the end Livingston had a chance to win it as Ashley Elizabeth whipped the ball in with a sliding Dodds inches away from connecting.

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“I’m very disappointed especially after last week”, Jaconelli added. “We weren’t quite at it but some credit needs to go to Morton, they played really well. They didn’t give us any room, they worked really hard but we were just a little bit off it. We spoke how we needed to come into the game and have the same momentum, same pace, and for some reason today it just wasn’t there.

“It wasn’t for lack of trying towards the end of the game. I thought we were going to win it at the end. Their player has just hit a screamer and its gone into the top corner. That’s football. Morton deserved something today because their efforts were tremendous. We set levels and they just weren’t quite there today.”

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