Livingston progressed into the fifth round of the Scottish Cup as an Ayo Obileye penalty settled a forgettable affair against Ross County.
Both sides enjoyed lengthy periods in control over the course of the 90 minutes but failed to produce much in terms of goalscoring chances.
Livingston showed plenty of attacking intent in the opening stages but failed to converted that into chances as Odin Bailey in particular started the game strongly.
They were handed the perfect opportunity to open the scoring on 16 minutes when Bruce Anderson latched onto a ball over the top and was clumsily bundled over in the box by Declan Drysdale. Up stepped Obileye to calmly send Ross Laidlaw the wrong way and give the hosts the lead.
The rest of the first half would follow a similar pattern with the Lions enjoying plenty of possession inside the County half without threatening to extend their lead.
The visitors, meanwhile, offered little going forward but almost grabbed an equaliser on the stroke of half-time as Jack Burroughs' fizzing effort had Max Stryjek scrambling but went narrowly wide.
The second half was a near complete reversal of the opening 45 minutes as the Staggies dominated for large spells but didn't severely test the Livi keeper all that often.
County passed up an even better chance to level things up four minutes after the break when Alex Samuel was found unmarked six yards out by Jake Vokins but he screwed his header the wrong side of the post while Stryjek did well to palm away an angled drive from Blair Spittal.
As the contest progressed, so did County's dominance on proceedings as Livi struggled to get out of their half at times. Dominic Samuel's diving header on 77 minutes went wide as County continued searching for a way back into the tie.
With the visitors pressing forward, Livi almost gave themselves some breathing space as the clock entered the final 10 minutes. Substitutes Alan Forrest and Joel Nouble combined with the latter seeing his rasping strike saved by the legs of Laidlaw - who palmed a Bailey effort wide at his near post moments later.
The hosts were able to see out the remainder of the tie without too many concerns as they booked their place in the fifth round.
Livingston: Stryjek; Devlin, Obileye, Fitzwater, Longridge; Pittman, Holt, Omeonga (McMillan 52); Bailey, Anderson (Nouble 60), Chukweumeka (Forrest 45). Subs not used: Maley, Jacobs, Montano, Boyes, Lewis, Shinnie.
Goal: Obileye (16 pen).
Ross County: Laidlaw; Randall, Drysdale, Ramsay, Vokins; Callachan, Burroughs (H.Paton 86), B.Paton, Spittal; A. Samuel (White 60), D. Samuel.
Subs not used: Munro, Maynard-Brewer, Baldwin, Watson, Iacovitti, Charles-Cook, Hungbo.
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