Livingston 1-1 Kilmarnock: Points shared between Scottish Premiership's bottom two in West Lothian
Report as Livingston and Kilmarnock drew 1-1 draw at the Home of the Set Fare Arena; Connor McLennan put the Lions in front on the stroke of half-time; Marcus Dackers' 70th-minute equaliser secured a draw for Killie in manager Neil McCann's first game in charge
Saturday 10 January 2026 21:00, UK
Strugglers Livingston and Kilmarnock played out a 1-1 draw at the Home of the Set Fare Arena.
The William Hill Premiership's bottom two sides both went into the clash in terrible form, with Livi having not won in 19 top-flight fixtures while 11th-placed Killie were without a victory in 14.
Connor McLennan put the Lions in front on the stroke of half-time but Marcus Dackers' 70th-minute equaliser secured a draw for Killie in manager Neil McCann's first game in charge.
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Things got off to an inauspicious start for the West Lothian hosts with Brooklyn Kabongolo picking up an early booking and being fortunate not to receive another before being replaced by Danny Wilson after just 10 minutes.
With the hosts struggling to settle into the contest, Kilmarnock looked to get on the front foot early doors. However, despite enjoying plenty of the play, the away side were unable to threaten Jerome Prior in the Livingston goal.
Livingston created the game's first chance of note which arrived on 33 minutes as Joshua Brenet did well down the right flank before finding McLennan, although the former Ayr United man's effort was well saved by Tobi Oluwayemi.
That sparked a change in tempo from both sides in what had been a predictably cagey affair. Bruce Anderson went close to netting against his former club after turning Scott Tiffoney's delivery wide as Killie looked to open the scoring.
Sammy Lawal looked to provide a moment of magic as the Nigerian full-back attempted a piledriver from distance that flew narrowly over the bar.
Just as the half-time whistle was due to blow, the Lions struck. Macaulay Tait was found in acres of space and the midfielder charged at the Killie backline before rolling the ball across the face of goal for McLennan to turn home.
That provided a huge momentum shift in favour of the hosts, who came out energised after the interval as they looked to double their advantage.
Tete Yengi came close to doing just that when he outmuscled Ethan Brown only to see his strike bounce back off the crossbar.
Having previously been a near total bystander, Prior was called into action two minutes later as he clawed away a Brad Lyons header with the Killie skipper looking to drag his side level.
He was unable to prevent substitute Dackers from levelling things up on 70 minutes, however, as the striker prodded the ball over the line at the second attempt to bag his first goal since October.
Both sides went searching for a late winner, knowing the importance of all three points. Lewis Smith tested Oluwayemi after cutting in from Livi's right while Prior got his fingertips to a fizzing Dom Thompson effort from 30 yards.
The hosts handed debuts to both Scott Arfield and Estonian striker Alex Tamm with 12 minutes remaining, with the pair both forcing Oluwayemi into saves, but neither side was able to find a crucial late winner.
What the managers said...
Kilmarnock boss Neil McCann:
"There's no question in my mind that Kabongolo should've been off the pitch. Anybody in this ground today knows he should've been off the pitch. Davie Martindale knows that too, that's why he subbed him.
"The big fella shouldn't have had that opportunity to stay on the pitch. I've been told the first one is reckless and deserved a yellow card.
"The second one he's cleaned out our player running right through on a promising attack. I don't know how promising it needs to be to have another yellow card.
"Right after that he goes through the back again. I don't understand how that's not the second yellow. That went against us. It allowed Davie to make the change.
"Don's good. We spoke calmly after the game - I wasn't remonstrating too much in his face. He just felt there wasn't enough in it to send him off. I completely disagreed with him and he accepted that."
Livingston boss David Martindale:
"I don't think the first challenge is a yellow card. I don't think there is anything in it and it was a really strange booking because Bruce Anderson is going nowhere and the ball was going out the park.
"The second challenge, I don't think was a foul but the third I thought was a yellow card. Based on him already being on a yellow - which I don't agree with - it's a red card.
"The ref's put us in that position due to his poor decision-making. Brooklyn shouldn't have been in that position.
"He should have been on the park to clear the ball that came into our box for their goal. That's what he was in the team for."
