Livingston captain Nicky Devlin admitted ‘embarrassing’ defending cost the Lions a top six spot.
David Martindale’s men went into the final game before the split knowing a win over Motherwell would likely be enough to seal a top half finish for a third successive campaign. Goals from Odin Bailey and Alan Forrest had the hosts cruising at 2-0 before a dramatic Well fight back.
Callum Slattery slammed the ball home from 25 yards on 72 minutes before the final, crucial blow was struck in the third minute of injury-time as Ricki Lamie nodded home from close range after Bevis Mugabi had turned a corner-kick onto the crossbar.
Devlin said: “It’s a massive opportunity gone. We had the game where we wanted and I felt we were comfortable at 2-0. The second goal’s not acceptable. It’s just shocking. Don’t really know what else I can say.
“We could have killed the game off but we should have been comfortable at 2-0. We’re two goals up at home, we shouldn’t be drawing. The way we lost the second goal was just embarrassing.”
He added: “Set plays are a massive part of the game. Nobody did their job because the ball went in the back of the net. It’s not just one person, everyone could do better. As a team, we’ve just flung it away.
“Our biggest thing now is making sure we stay in the league. If we don’t react to this and other teams win games, we’re going to be in trouble so the way forward for us now is to stay in the division. Now, that’s the only thing we can take out of this season.”
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