Livingston boss admits side were 'bullied' in loss to Kilmarnock

A frustrated Davie Martindale accused his side of being ‘bullied’ as an abject display led to a 3-1 away loss to Kilmarnock - and admitted they felt the loss of centre-back Ayo Obileye.

The hosts were better all over the park and a dismal defensive display saw the Rugby Park side comfortably pick up the points - and leapfrog the Lions in the Premiership table with Livi falling out of the bottom six. It was the first time this season they suffered defeat to a side or than Celtic and Rangers - but the performance lacked everything which had resulted in their success early this campaign.

Danny Armstrong opened the scoring on 16 minutes after Corrie Ndaba’s cross was deflected into his path before Livi levelled things up with their only shot on target - a Sean Kelly penalty.

It was a third spot-kick success in as many games and was awarded after Mo Sangare had been clipped in the box by Brad Lyons but parity lasted just seven minutes though as Kyle Vassell was somehow left unmarked inside the box from a long-range free-kick to head beyond Shamal George.

And the striker was at it again on the hour mark. Moments after clattering the woodwork from an Armstrong cross, he looped a header into the top corner after beating the Mick Devlin to a David Watson cross. The Livi skipper was making his first appearance for a month following an ankle injury and looked some way off his performances pre-injury.

Killie controlled the contest after Vassell’s second without really peppering George’s goal but there was never any danger of a Livi fightback as they slumped to defeat with a whimper.

Martindale said: “All three goals came initially from set plays, with the first one being our own set play. I don’t think our shape was great and in our