Brechin City went down to their third successive league defeat after League One leaders Livingston won comfortably by 3-0 at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
City got off to the worst possible start, losing a goal within the first 50 seconds when they failed to clear a long throw-in from Shaun Byrne. The ball fell kindly for Liam Buchanan, who blasted it home from around two yards out.
A further setpiece led to Livi’s second goal in the 29th minute when Craig Halkett rose above the visiting defence to head home a Mark Millar freekick.
City had it all to do in the second period but the game was over as a contest nine minutes into the half when a Scott Pittman’s close-range drive took a slight deflection on its way into the net.
City boss Darren Dods said: “Losing a goal within the first minute was the start we didn’t want but I thought that we recovered well and for the next 20 minutes or so we battled away.
“Unfortunately, we then lost a further goal from another set-piece.
“Livi obviously have a big height advantage but, having said that, I felt that we could have defended the setpiece a lot better.
“We still battled away and we were perhaps sitting too deeply for their third goal but the players still battled on in what were far from ideal conditions.
“The pitch was poor and was quite dug up and I don’t think we coped as well with it as Livingston. They are obviously used to playing on that surface and they moved the ball about really quickly, while our smaller players were struggling a bit to find their feet.
“Livi are a very good team and at this time of year when the pitches are quite heavy, the power, strength and fitness that they possess will come to the fore.”
