Better news for Brown

Livingston 1 Hibernian 2

IT has been a dizzying seven days in the life of Scott Brown. The 18-year-old got his first two goals for the Easter Road side at Almondvale yesterday, just seven days after being the alleged victim of a headbutting incident involving Motherwell midfielder Scott Leitch.

The striker's cleverly-executed double either side of half-time enlivened this end-of-season affair, with even a late consolation strike from Livingston's Argentinian striker Fernando Pasquinelli not enough to prevent Hibs' fourth victory in a row.

If it was an early staging post in one career, it was a slightly anti-climactic end to another, with Livingston's longest-serving player and captain-for-the-day David Bingham bowing out.

From the outset, the home side had appeared in Meadowbank Thistle- style strips, it seemed like they were not the only team trying out next season's fashions. Hibs, minus suspended Ian Murray and injured Matthias Doumbe, fielded a side largely consisting of youngsters and those, such as Grant Brebner and Jarkko Wiss, who had been offered extended deals at the club. There were a few aberrations, however, in the form of players such as Paul Fenwick and youngster Darran Thomson, who have both been told that they will be released.

Afterwards, Williamson insisted his new strikers Brown and Derek Riordan had staked their claim to be considered automatic first choices, even hinting that Thomson had done so well he may just have to reconsider that decision too. "They're in pole position because they are the guys holding the shirt," Williamson said. "I thought the four young boys did well, along with all the other players. We feel we're a big club and we want to be where Killie and Hearts are."

With Juanjo Camacho an auxiliary left-back and David McNamee pressed into action as sweeper, Livingston again looked short at the back. It was McNamee at fault when the visitors took the lead seven minutes before the break, allowing possession to elude him as Brown pounced, kept his cool to sweep the ball beyond Alan Main. If it illustrated his sharp brain and neat touch, the other side to Brown was shown in the booking he received for a kick at Cherif Toure- Maman.

Up until that point, Pasquinelli - formerly handed a trial under Martin O'Neill at Leicester - had stolen the show. It was he who took Camacho's pass and turned neatly before finishing wastefully at Daniel Andersson. His next effort was to flick an unorthodox overhead effort narrowly wide from Camacho's free-kick, before shortly afterwards, his run bemused Janos Matyus only for his left-footed prod to rear up out of Barry Wilson's reach. At the other end, the closest Hibs had come was a Grant Brebner shot saved by Main, and a Wiss shot which whistled wide.

Having gone into half-time a goal to the good, the second strike effectively killed the game. A deep free-kick from Wiss was headed across goal by Steven Whittaker, and Brown dispatched it high into the net from close range.

Andersson had strongarmed a Pasquinelli shot and tipped clear a Bingham header already since half-time, but his clean sheet was eventually ruined when Bingham's header let in Pasquinelli and the Argentine held off Matyus to toe-poke home at the near post. After a small ceremony, Bingham left the field, having been hailed by coach Allan Preston as the young club's first legend. His probable destination: Inverness Caley Thistle.

Copyright 2003 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.