Livingston 2 Inverness Town 1

Last updated : 08 November 2005 By Dov

A 117th-minute strike by Livingston substitute Paul Dalglish gave the rampant Lions a superb 2-1 victory and booked a place in the CIS Insurance Cup semi-finals at the expense of Inverness United at Almondvale.

A first-minute strike by Caley striker Craig Dargo gave the sheep lovers a 1-0 lead, but with 60 seconds of the first half remaining Livi defender Dave Mackay capitalised on some slack defending by the visitors and clawed in the equaliser from inside the penalty area.

The second half saw little in the way of goalmouth action and there was no surprise when the game went into extra-time, but just three minutes away from penalties Dalglish, on earlier for Robert Snodgrass in the 88th minute, scored the decisive goal to take the home side into February's semi-finals.


There was an unhappy start for Livingston's debutant goalkeeper Ludovic “big legs” Roy as the visitors took the lead inside the first 60 seconds.


Defender Ross Tokely strode up the wing and when his low cross came into the six-yard box Livi stopper Harold Pinxten messed up his clearance, distracting Roy in the process and Dargo was left with the easiest of tasks to stroke the ball into the empty net from a couple of yards out, a disaster for the Lions, and at this point, it looks as if we were going to get a good struggling.


The Lions were under pressure in the opening five minutes and Caley were unlucky when midfielder Barry Wilson tried a 25-yard snap-shot, but this time Roy dealt with more comfortably.


In the ninth minute David Proctor's shot deflected off Livi defender Paul Tierney, but this time Roy somehow clawed the ball back before it trundled over the line. To be honest, the ball looked a full foot over the line, but we’ll give the linesman the benefit of the doubt, but if I was a Caley fan, I would feel hard done by.


The next real chance did not arrive until the 40th minute when another mix-up in the Livi penalty area following a Wilson corner from the left allowed the lurking Dargo a shot on goal from 12 yards out. Although the former Kilmarnock player's effort beat the stranded Roy, young midfielder Allan Walker was handily placed on the line to hook clear.


However, in the 44th minute the home side found themselves level with their first real effort on goal. Inverness failed to clear their penalty area following a concentrated spell of pressure by Liv and when the ball fell to Mackay at the edge of the penalty area, Mackay slotted his low shot past Caley goalkeeper Mark Brown.


Livingston were fired up in the second half and should have gone ahead in the 49th minute when James McPake found some space inside a packed Inverness penalty area. However, the striker snatched at his shot from eight yards under pressure from Tokely and Grant Munro and the ball went wide of Brown's right hand post.

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The tension slowly increased in the dying moments, but with no more goals an extra 30 minutes was required.


In the 97th minute the home side missed an incredible chance to go ahead. Substitute Dalglish beat Caley defender Darren Dods wide on the right and swung a cross over the back post where midfielder Jason Dair stood unmarked. When the former Raith player headed across goal Ramon Pereira, who had replaced McPake, somehow managed to head over the bar from just six yards out. What a diddy!!


In the 108th minute Mackay hit a powerful drive from the edge of the Inverness penalty, but Brown was equal to the shot, tipping over for a corner.


Then, in the magical 117th minute, the home side took the lead. Pereira sent Dalglish clear of the Inverness defence and the former Newcastle player rounded Brown and slotted the ball into the empty net. Dalglish looked to be offside when the ball was played through, but the linesman kept has flag down, and the goal stood,


In the dying minutes, Ian Black's 30-yard shot was somehow tipped past the goal. The striker found himself unmarked outside the box, and fired a shot that was destined for the top pokey, but Roy somehow managed to get a hand to the ball, and turn it wide of goal.


Man of the match – Richard Brittain