SATURDAY’S game at Fir Park wasn’t one for the purists, but the draw that Livingston came away with marked another small progression on their remarkable journey through the Scottish leagues.
And the man who produced the one bit of real quality all afternoon, Keaghan Jacobs, has been there every step of the way.
The midfielder’s outrageous second-half free-kick that screamed into Trevor Carson’s top corner cancelled out Ryan Bowman’s opener for the struggling hosts, and brought up a significant milestone for Jacobs too that highlights just how far he and his side have come.
“I’m very proud to have [now] scored in every single division in Scottish football for Livingston,” Jacobs said. “It’s quite a unique feat.
“I can’t actually remember my first league goal for Livingston [in a 6-1 win away to Elgin in the Third Division in 2009]. But I do remember my first-ever goal for the club because it came on my debut against Alloa in the Scottish Cup in 2007. Hopefully there are more goals to come from me.”
For Motherwell, Saturday was another day that inspired introspection after a disappointing start to the campaign. Their lack of confidence after four straight defeats was clearly evident, as the desire to avoid taking risks outweighed the notion of getting the ball down and trying to find a teammate.
On a positive note, they not only stopped the rot here, but they answered questions that manager Stephen Robinson had asked of them in terms of how they deal with adversity.
After being pegged back, Carl McHugh was sent off after picking up two quick cautions, but they dug in to ensure they didn’t end up empty-handed once more.
A small step, but goalscorer Bowman believes it could be a pivotal one in terms of restoring their belief.
“We need to get that back,” Bowman said. We need to get the confidence back from what we were playing like last season. We’ve got the break coming up and we’ll use that to our advantage. We’ll come back stronger.
“From the fans you could sense there was a nervousness about the boys. Maybe when we could have taken a touch we were slashing it, myself included. That all comes down to confidence.”
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