Kyrell Wilson scored the opening goal for Falkirk.Image source, SNS
Image caption,

Kyrell Wilson gave Falkirk an early lead at the Set Fare Arena

At a glance

  • Livingston's winless run stretches to 25 games as Marvin Bartley era starts with defeat

  • Falkirk boost their top six hopes with valuable three points on the road

  • Kyrell Wilson scores early opener for the Bairns before Louie Marsh nets first Falkirk goal as Connor McLennan offers Livi hope

ByAndy Coyle
BBC Sport Scotland

Marvin Bartley endured a disappointing start to life as Livingston manager as the relegation-threatened hosts fell to Scottish Premiership defeat by Falkirk.

An early goal from Kyrell Wilson put the Bairns on the road to victory before Louie Marsh doubled their lead.

The hosts pulled a goal back in the second half, but their long winless run continues.

After just six minutes Barney Stewart carried the ball into the Livingston half before picking out Marsh, but the midfielder's shot was deflected into the path of Wilson.

The forward controlled the ball quickly and then fired a powerful shot past Jerome Prior from a narrow angle to give Falkirk the lead.

The visitors thought they had doubled their lead three minutes later when Stewart headed in from a Calvin Miller cross but a video assistant referee (VAR) review showed the in-form striker had just drifted offside.

Livingston were moving the ball about well when in possession but Falkirk were on top and settled into their familiar style. Their attacking intent was rewarded with a second goal after 25 minutes.

Miller took a corner from the right that was headed to the back post by Stewart and Marsh was on hand to finish from just a couple of yards out.

That was enough to give the visitors a comfortable half-time lead but after the restart, Livingston quickly got back into the game.

An almighty scramble in the Falkirk box saw the ball fall to Connor McLennan and he prodded an instinctive finish past Scott Bain to pull a goal back.

That gave Bartley's side belief and they began to get on the front foot more, opening up the game to chances for both sides.

At the end of a neat passing move, Miller raced through and rounded Jerome Prior but the Falkirk winger saw his shot bounce back off the post.

Livingston threw everything at it in the latter stages but couldn't find the goal they needed to prevent Bartley's first game as boss ending in defeat.

Analysis: Bartley faces struggle but will have been pleased with attitude

Livingston's decision to move David Martindale into a new sporting director role while Bartley stepped up from assistant to boss was designed to give a freshness and new manager bounce, while maintaining some continuity.

In his first game in charge, the former club captain would have seen some encouraging signings in the performance, but defeat only underlined the size of the task ahead.

Bartley made changes to the team, and tried to bring some solidity to a side who have conceded far more than any other team in the league, only to see his team trailing after six minutes.

That, and a second goal conceded from a set piece, could have seen heads go down and Falkirk allowed to build on what they had.

Whatever Bartley said at half-time had an effect and his side came out with real belief, that McLennan's goal helped to build. The Lions never gave up on their hopes of taking a point, and had some chances to get an equaliser.

Ultimately, the quality was lacking and the team looked like a side scrapping rather than imposing themselves on the opposition and as Bartley conceded, it's "a massive task" to climb to safety.

Falkirk recent resultsImage source, BBC/Opta

Falkirk manager John McGlynn set his side out to take advantage of Aberdeen's match being postponed, and a chance to open up a gap on seventh place. From that simple objective, it was mission accomplished.

McGlynn's side have shone since being promoted in the summer and they looked settled in their style and how they intended to go about the business of winning.

What might concern McGlynn is how his side got dragged into a battle in the second half, with the result far from certain in the latter stages even though Falkirk had completely bossed the first half.

The league table makes for happy reading for Bairns fans but the experienced boss knows things could have been more comfortable.

What the managers said

Falkirk manager John McGlynn tells BBC Scotland: "I think in the second half we made it hard for ourselves. I think in the first half we played extremely well.

"We scored a really good goal, had another one ruled out for offside, and then got that two goal cushion.

"We were delighted at half-time and asked for more of the same. Fair play to Livingston, they got that goal back early in the second half.

"It was a bit nerve-wracking and we made it a bit more difficult for ourselves than it needed to be. We had chances to kill it off, hit the post, and there were other shots.

"We've not got the greatest record here so it is all about winning. It was a bit more stressful than it needed to be. But credit to Livingston for having a better second half performance.

"The fans were magnificent. We're taking big numbers everywhere we go so credit to them. We needed them to help us get over the line and they helped us no end."

Livingston manager Marvin Bartley: "When you play games of football and you cost yourself with two goals in the first half, maybe people will say you don't deserve anything.

"In the second half we got a massive reaction from the players but I told them we shot ourselves in the foot twice with the goals we conceded and we need to eradicate that if we're to have a chance of staying in this league.

"At half time I told them that at 2-0 down there's two ways you can look at it. You can say 'That's us done' or you can show a reaction with a bit of fight and a bit of spirit.

"We need to take care of the things we can control and for me we didn't do that today.

"It's one game. There will be a lot of learning from that.

"We've got a massive game at Celtic Park, and all games are massive for us now, but we'll look back on that with the staff, tell the players what they did well, what we didn't do so well, and improve."

What next?

Livingston face a trip to play Celtic next Wednesday night (19:45 GMT), while for Falkirk it's the magic of the Scottish Cup this weekend, with an away tie against Stenhousemuir (19.30) live on BBC Scotland.

Player of the match

Number: 30 L. Marsh
Average rating 8.54
Number: 11 C. McLennan
Average Rating: 4.62
Number: 37 S. Arfield
Average Rating: 4.33
Number: 24 M. Sylla
Average Rating: 4.30
Number: 15 L. Smith
Average Rating: 4.25
Number: 23 B. Kabongolo
Average Rating: 4.23
Number: 17 S. May
Average Rating: 4.20
Number: 28 J. Prior
Average Rating: 4.13
Number: 5 R. McGowan
Average Rating: 4.05
Number: 19 D. Finlayson
Average Rating: 4.00
Number: 9 R. Muirhead
Average Rating: 4.00
Number: 8 S. Pittman
Average Rating: 4.00
Number: 25 M. Tait
Average Rating: 3.95
Number: 30 J. Brenet
Average Rating: 3.70
Number: 3 Babacar Fati
Average Rating: 3.57

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.