Livingston Women fall short as late goal sinks Sky Sports Cup hopes at St Johnstone

Livingston Women’s fell to defeat in the first round of the Sky Sports Cup, losing 3-2 to St Johnstone in extra-time, writes Angus McGregor.

A double from Erin Burns was cancelled out late in normal time before the home side would capitalise deep into the added period. There was great rotation in the Livingston squad, with ten changes made from the starting line-up with the home side taking the lead in the seventh minute as Steffi Simson opened the scoring.

A corner was not dealt with as it landed amongst a group of players with Simson able to fire home from close range.

Lionesses skipper Shannon Mulligan attempted a speculative effort straight from kick-off, with a nervy showing from Saints keeper Ellie Mitchell seeing the ball bounce just over the bar but the visitors didn’t have to wait much longer before grabbing the equaliser.

Shannon Todd broke inside and found Burns on the opposite flank, and she duly took a touch and finished tremendously to level things up.

A competitive first half in the scorching Perth heat saw no further goals but Livingston came out quickly in the second half to get themselves in front. A looping cross from Stacey Calder fell to Burns who finished at the second time of asking to give her side the lead.

A second-round tie against Glasgow City looked to be on the cards but Livi were dealt with a late sucker punch as St Johnstone equalised in the final minutes to take the game into extra-time as Elvie McLean capitalised on another loose ball in the box.

There was little quality in the final 30 minutes with the added time as well as the temperatures taking their toll on the players. The game appeared to be fizzling out when Saints netted what proved to be the winner.

A well-worked