Linlithgow Rose 5 - 1 Livingston United: Strickland and Co make second round

However the Rose striker made amends in the 15th minute when he netted the opener from Stuart McArthur’s defence splitting diagonal pass.

Livingston hadn’t threatened up to that point but were back on level terms within two minutes thanks to veteran striker John Stewart who finished well from a Craig Russell cross.

Rose were back in front within 60 seconds through Colin Strickland and he struck again in the 39th minute, heading home an Adam Nelson cross. The tie was beyond doubt two minutes into the second half when Coyne’s drive was parried by Irvine Holliday only for Gordon Herd to convert the rebound.

The scoring was completed in the 71st minute when a brilliant turn by substitute Roddy MacLennan took him into space and his neat pass set up McArthur who finished well from 12 yards.

Rose gaffer Mark Bradley was happy to see his team maintain their momentum: “It was a bit frustrating to miss the penalty and to lose the goal, but good to get the game on and get the win. Stuart McArthur’s a goal-a-game player for us and he’s well into double figures for the season now as well as Strickland and Coyne. Herd and Roddy MacLennan caused them lots of problems today and we’ve also still got good options on the bench.”

Livingston boss Andy Johnstone was far from down-hearted: “Better teams than us have come here and suffered heavy defeats this season, but I was proud of the team because they kept going and never went under and scored a great goal. It was a young team, especially in the second half, and they did well, but the quality of the strikers was the difference. Hopefully we can get a league game next week - we haven’t played a league game for about six weeks but we’re in a good position and I’ll be disappointed if we don’t get promotion.”

Linlithgow: Hay, Wilson, Nelson, MacKenzie, Ovenstone, Tyrrell (Dunn 61), McArthur, Shirra (Ruari MacLennan 46), Strickland, Coyne, Herd (Roddy MacLennan 61).

Livingston Utd: Irvine-Holliday, Purves, Wilson (Higgins 49), Love (J Murphy 49), S Russell, McCormack, C Russell, Thomson, Stewart (McWilliams 46), D Murphy, Jaconelli.