Ross County were unable to hold firm with 10 men against Livingston in a drab encounter which will not live long in the memory.
There had been precious little to separate the two sides in the first half, but the dismissal of Staggies defender Carl Tremarco just six minutes after the interval gave Livi a clear impetus, with Jon Guthrie netting the decisive goal midway through the second half.
Rather than the decision to send off Tremarco for two yellow cards, it was Guthrie’s headed winner which irked Staggies manager Stuart Kettlewell, who felt the Livi player’s contact on Ross Stewart had mirrored a first-half scenario for which the Staggies forward was penalised.
Kettlewell’s protestations after the match landed him a red card from referee John Beaton, leaving the Staggies manager far from happy.
He said: “I can’t complain about the sending off, but I can about the goal.
“At our second corner Guthrie and Stewart are involved and there is a foul given for a carbon copy of the situation. He then doesn’t give a foul for their goal which frustrates me.
“You speak about levels of consistency – it was literally just hands on both shoulders and stopping the player from jumping.
“I know there’s going to be contact, but if you’ve set a precedent in the first half, you must continue that and be strong in the second half.
“I got myself involved with the referee at the end, but I am not having someone speak to me with such arrogance. He sent me off because I lost my cool, but I approach people in the right manner, and when someone treats you like a second-class citizen then I won’t be having that.”
County made two changes from the side which clawed back a 1-1 draw against St Mirren the previous week. Teenager Josh Reid made way for Tremarco, who was handed a first start for the Staggies, while Keith Watson was drafted in for Harry Paton in a change to a 3-4-1-2 formation, with Coll Donaldson shrugging off a knock to take his place among the back three.
The Staggies were fortunate to escape a let-off after eight minutes, with Nicky Devlin’s low delivery from the right picking out Scott Pittman all alone at the far post, but the midfielder somehow scooped over from point-blank range.
An opening period which had been bereft of opportunities ended with a flurry of goalmouth activity at both ends. Livi were inches from making the breakthrough on 43 minutes when Alan Forrest’s delivery picked out the head of debutant Lars Lokotsch, however, the German striker was denied a goal on his first outing by the crossbar.
The Staggies’ only two chances of the half came just before the interval, with their first effort coming when Tremarco’s cross was nodded into the path of Billy Mckay by strike partner Ross Stewart, however, the attacker could not keep his header down.
An even better chance fell Mckay’s way on the stroke of half-time as he peeled off his marker to meet Iain Vigurs’ corner at the near post, but he flashed his header inches wide.
Although there had been little in the game, County were presented with an additional challenge on 51 minutes when Tremarco was shown a second yellow card for tripping Devlin as he made strides towards the penalty box.
Having enjoyed a numerical advantage against Saints the week previous, County now had to show a steeliness of their own in order to salvage something from the game. Kettlewell made an instant tactical tweak, sacrificing one of his main goal threats in Mckay, along with Connor Randall, and bringing on Josh Reid and Josh Mullin.
A set-piece was to be the Staggies’ undoing on 65 minutes, however, with Julien Serrano’s cross which followed a short corner being met by the head of Guthrie, who beat off Stewart’s advances to steer an effort into Ross Laidlaw’s bottom corner.
Livi were largely comfortable in seeing out their victory thereafter, with Kettlewell ultimately disappointed by the Dingwall side’s showing.
He added: “It was a horrible game of football. We knew it would be scrappy and ugly and I felt one moment would win it and that’s what happened.
“I said to the players we needed to get into the game more. We defended well and we were physical, but the bit that annoyed me was we could play better, especially until Carl got sent off.
“We spoke about being more expansive and pass it better, but we didn’t do that.”
