A meeting between Kilmarnock and Livingston perhaps wasn’t the most eye-catching of the six Premiership fixtures on the schedule to kick off the opening weekend of the new campaign, but the rest will do well to top the entertainment offered up at Rugby Park.
The first of many ‘El Plastico’ derbies set to grace the Scottish top flight this year contained everything you could hope to see. Two fingers well and truly stuck up to those who can’t wait to ditch the artificial turf at the end of this season.
David Martindale must have been wondering how his players went into the break two goals down. But a stirring second-half fightback — aided in no small part by a red card for Kilmarnock defender George Stanger — earned them a share of the spoils.
Their well-known — and wildly unpopular — attritional approach was ditched in favour of a more attacking mindset in the Championship last term.
Martindale suggested that would be way of things going forward as they look to improve on their measly tally of five wins recorded during their most recent Premiership campaign. And on this evidence, it looks like he’ll be true to his word.
They were slick early on. On-loan Celtic man Adam Montgomery was first to threaten. His shot from the edge of the edge of the area took a nick on the way through to Max Stryjek, who made a quick readjustment down to his left to keep it out.
Pittman wheels away after drawing Livingston level with four minutes remaining
David Watson had bundled home on the stroke of half-time to put Killie 2-0 up
Stryjek’s fellow summer arrivals Marcus Dackers and Djenairo Daniels at the other end showed the odd glimpse of quality, but that strike partnership will clearly take some time to gel. The service wasn’t up to much, to be fair.
That all changed seven minutes before the interval. Liam Polworth robbed Montgomery midway inside the visitors’ half, before feeding an inch-perfect ball in behind for Daniels to run on to.
From an acute angle and with Ryan McGowan for company, the big Dutchman lashed a brilliant left-footed strike high into the net for his third goal since making the switch from Cork City.
A lengthy VAR check for offside followed before referee Matthew MacDermid pointed to the centre circle.
That advantage was immediately doubled. Montgomery once again failed to cover himself in glory, allowing former Livi captain Jamie Brandon to nick in before cutting the ball across the six-yard line.
Jerome Prior’s parry landed right at the feet of the grateful David Watson, who prodded home.
It’s set to be a big campaign for the 20-year-old. After scooping up all the awards in his first full season of first-team football, he found himself dropped to the bench for a decent chunk of last year before successfully reclaiming his place.
Stuart Kettlewell played no small part in turning Lennon Miller into a multi-million pound talent at Motherwell. Watson, it would seem, is in good hands.
Robbie Muirhead appeared to have a decent shout for penalty on the hour mark after being hauled down by Stanger.
MacDermid was quick to wave it away but overturned that decision after being called over — around 30 seconds after the incident — for a look at the pitchside monitor. A red card for the Killie defender to boot.
‘I do want the centre-back to deal with the ball,’ Kettlewell said. ‘I don’t think it’s going at enough pace to guarantee that it’s going back to the goalkeeper.
Robbie Muirhead scores from the spot to give Livi a way back into the match
Martindale instructs his team in the first ‘El Plastico’ of the new league season
‘But even at that, George’s contact, is it enough for Muirhead to go down in the fashion that he does? I probably sit in the camp of it being soft, really soft.
‘But once you put yourself in that position, it becomes a difficult one to argue.’
Muirhead made no mistake from the spot.
Substitute Zak Rudden was thwarted by the feet of Stryjek, but the ex-Livi keeper could do nothing to stop Scott Pittman powering in a richly deserved equaliser on the 86th minute thanks to great work from Macauley Tait down the right-hand side.
‘I would have probably taken a point before the game,’ Martindale admitted. ‘You have to remember who you’re playing.
‘We are a new group back in the Premiership, albeit a few of us have been there before, so coming away to Kilmarnock is going to be difficult game.
‘But I was happy with how the boys bounced back, they showed real resilience.’
