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Sport
Callum Carson

Late goal seals Livingston win over Hibs in feisty encounter

Livingston sealed a dramatic three points with a late winner over Hibs as Ayo Obileye nodded home four minutes from time.

The Lions were utterly dominant in the first half but only had Joel Nouble's fifth minutes strike to show for their efforts. The striker delicately dinked the ball over David Marshall after being played through on goal.

It was a changed Hibs after the break, though, with Nohan Kenneh levelling things up five minutes into the second half before the visitors dominated proceedings in a sometime fiery encounter that featured several heated exchanges - including one between both managers that resulted in yellow cards being shown to both.

But heaving seen that period out, Livi went on to seal the victory four minutes from time as Obilye was found at the back post from a Sean Kelly free-kick.

Livingston boss David Martindale named an unchanged line-up to the one that defeated Dundee United six days earlier. That meant a club record-equalling 309th appearance for midfielder Scott Pittman.

The hosts got off to the perfect start as Nouble opened the scoring on six minutes. Jason Holt won the ball back in midfield for the Lions before feeding the striker who coasted beyond the heart of the Hibs defence before bagging his second goal of the campaign with a delicate dink over David Marshall.

The away side looked flustered following that setback and boss Lee Johnson made a tactical change midway through the first half with the ineffective Elias Melkersen hooked in favour of Christian Doidge.

Moments later Pittman almost marked his milestone appearance in style but wasn't able to fashion enough power into his header from a deep Nicky Devlin cross with Marshall saving comfortably.

The keeper passed a significantly greater test just after the half-hour mark as a defensive blunder presented Nouble with a perfect opportunity to double his tally. The striker took advantage of a slip from Chris Cadden before holding off Ryan Porteous and firing at goal from 12 yards out only for Marshall to get down and make a smart save to his left.

The Hibees eventually created their first opportunity on the stroke of half-time but Doidge's header from a Marijan Cabraja cross from the left was a tame one dealt with easily by Shamal George.

They took that into the second half and started on the front foot with Martin Boyle introduced for the ineffective Jair Tavares. A neat passing move from left to right and then back again eventually led to Nohan Kenneh firing narrowly wide from 20 yards.

The midfielder didn't have to wait long before finding the net, however, as five minutes into the second half the Lions failed to deal with a corner-kick which Kenneh turned home from close range.

That sparked a complete change in momentum as the Lions were penned back inside their penalty box for large spells, including having to defend four corners in succession. The defence held firm, though.

Tempers were beginning to flare with Boyle at the centre of things. The Australian international was booked in the same passage of play as Livi's Cristian Montano - before the winger was accused of diving inside the box. That sparked both managers having to be restrained from entering the opposition technical area, which merited a booking apiece.

Having weathered that storm, the Lions grew into the half. Neat play on the edge of the box led to a chipped Nouble effort going close as the tide started to turn.

Hibs were struggling to cope against the striker and he was able to somehow jink his way beyond two defenders on the touchline before teeing up substitute Bruce Anderson. Last season's top scorer wasn't able to open his league account thanks to a wonderful save from Marshall five minutes from time.

The former Scotland keeper was helpless four minutes from time as Ayo Obileye rose the highest at the back post to head Sean Kelly's deep free-kick into the net.

The hosts were up against it for the remaining minutes as Hibs threw everything at getting an equaliser. Elie Youan saw his thunderous strike palmed by by George before substitute Momodou Bojang contrived to fire over the bar from close range when Porteous was standing a yard behind him for a simple tap-in as Livi held on for the points.

Livingston: George; Devlin (Brandon 88), Fitzwater, Obileye, Montano (Cancar 64); Omeonga, Holt, Kelly; Shinnie (Anderson 75), Nouble, Pittman. Subs not used: Konovalov. Longridge, Bahamboula, Goncalves, Mullin, Bitsindou.

Goal: Nouble (6), Obileye (86)

Hibernian: Marshall; Cadden, Porteous, Hanlon (McClelland 83), Cabraja; Kenneh (Bojang 88), Newell; Melkersen (Doidge 22), Tavares (Boyle 45), Henderson (Doyle-Hayes 83); Youan. Subs not used: Dabrowski, Miller, McGregor, MacIntyre.

Goal: Kenneh (50)

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