Gary Holt applauds Livingston for their direct approach against Motherwell

Posted Sunday, December 02, 2018 by PA

Gary Holt felt his Livingston side were rewarded for playing to their strengths during the 2-0 victory over Motherwell.

Livi scored from two set-pieces to move back into the top six of the Ladbrokes Premiership thanks to a well-deserved triumph at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

Steven Lawless netted from the second ball after Alan Lithgow’s long throw midway through the first half – after earlier forcing a brilliant save from Mark Gillespie from the same source.

And Craig Halkett wrapped up the win when he headed home substitute Scott Robinson’s 83rd-minute corner.

Holt said: “I’m pleased with the way the lads applied themselves – they tried to entertain, they tried to win the game.

“That’s the environment we are trying to set – go and win games, because the league is so tight.

“We tried to score goals and tried to get in areas where we could, and fortunately we had enough people in the box when the ball fell.

“We’ve got weapons we can use and tools in the tool box: Alan Lithgow’s long throw. Use it in the right areas. And we got a goal off it.

“Set-plays, we’ve got people who are prepared to get hurt, so don’t go away from that. Don’t then play short corners and try intricate stuff when you can put the ball in the box. Today we got two good goals from it.”

The fact that Livingston’s threats are so well-known made the manner of Motherwell’s defeat all the more frustrating for visiting boss Stephen Robinson.

“What’s disappointing is that we worked on it all week,” Robinson said.

“They throw long balls into the box, they do it very well. We told certain people to mark a certain way. They didn’t and runners go off from a midfielder, again.

“We got beat by that and a corner into the box that we made them very aware of. We simply got what we deserved.”

Motherwell only came close to equalising once, when Liam Kelly made a brilliant one-handed stop from Barry Maguire’s volley four minutes before the second goal.

Robinson said: “We didn’t do the simple things well, Livi did that better than us.

“If Livi win, lose or draw, they do that every single week, and we didn’t do that. We didn’t pick up second balls, we didn’t land on the ball and, when we did, we passed it out of play.”