Livingston Women battled to a 2-2 draw at home to Rossvale in the SWF Championship, writes Angus McGregor.
A penalty from Jen Dodds and a textbook header from Jess Murphy were cancelled out as the points were shared at the Tony Macaroni Arena but the Lionesses were able to extend their lead at the top of the table to 11 points.
The hosts were boosted by the early news that second-placed Renfrew had lost at home to Ayr United, giving them the chance to go further ahead at the summit of the Championship.
The home side got off to a great start as they made their early possession count, winning a penalty inside ten minutes.
A great evasive pass from Brogan Anderson expertly picked out Beth McKay, with the winger tripped as she was certain to get a shot away. Striker Dodds stepped up and made no mistake to take her tally to 11 goals for the season.
Few other opportunities were created in the first-half with Dodds having a great chance to get her second only to fire wide following good work from Lucy Brown.
As the half continued, Rossvale began to look more threatening, getting deep into Livi’s half and exploiting space.
Kaitlyn Canavan would level things up before half-time, delightfully dinking the ball over Charlotte Ferguson as the away side made their pressure count.
Despite being against the momentum, Livingston would take the lead again on the hour mark. A Gemma Mason corner was met by Jess Murphy whose header creeped just over the line, with the centre-half making an impact yet again from a set-piece.
The game became a bit of a slog for the home side, as they struggled to get out of their own half without giving away too many opportunities.
This changed 20 minutes from time as a slack back pass played in a trialist who levelled things up with a well taken finish inside of the box.
Neither side could get the advantage in the end, with Brown having the best chance late on but hit wide from a one- on-one opportunity as Paul Jaconelli’s side had to settle for a share of the spoils.
Livingston will be hoping to get back to winning ways as they travel to face Hutchison Vale on Sunday.
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