On the park this was a good day for Rangers, at least in the sense that things didn't get any worse.

The club's supporters weren't exactly doing somersaults after this narrow victory over Livingston, but thankfully for them one man at the Energy Assets Arena yesterday was indulging in acrobatics.

Lewis Macleod's inspired overhead kick after just eight minutes allowed them to trek back home contentedly enough from West Lothian with the gap on leaders Hearts still stuck at six points.

Ally McCoist, no stranger to the spectacular scissor-kick finish himself, fairly gushed about the 20-year-old's strike, from Ian Black's speculative lofted pass, which propelled the ball past Livingston goalkeeper Darren Jamieson from 15 yards.

This was not just because it took some of the heat off him after a traumatic week. It went one better than a similar effort from slightly closer range that the Scotland Under-21 player notched against Ayr United at Somerset Park last season.

"I don't remember striking too many with venom like that," said McCoist. "I thought his one at Ayr United would take a bit of beating but that one might better it. Both of his, at Ayr United and today, had real venom ... although they probably didn't have the accuracy of mine! No, he's a breath of fresh air and we are loving working with him. His attitude is good and if he keeps going the way he is going he will be a top, top player."

Macleod had been unavailable for Monday's catastrophic home defeat to Hibs with an ankle problem, and he proved today exactly what Rangers had been missing. With Kris Boyd spurning another glorious opportunity to get off the mark in the league, and substitute David Templeton failing to capitalise on another fine opening, perhaps the most alarming thing for McCoist was how reliant they suddenly appear on this callow product of their youth academy.

"I have got a habit of them, it must be luck," said Macleod modestly afterwards. "I have been out for two weeks so it was good to get back into the swing of things and get a goal as well. I think this one was better than the one against Ayr. I don't know how far out I was, but it felt better anyway, especially after the week we have had. We know Monday was a bad result and a bad performance so to get the early goal and go on to win the game, I was delighted."

Rangers' profligacy only encouraged a Livingston side which had been on the receiving end of five goals at Tynecastle last Sunday. Their players went off into the night feeling rather aggrieved that they were denied a late equaliser, Ian Black's clearance from a looping Kyle Jacobs header possibly coming after the ball had dropped marginally over the line.

"We felt Rangers would be a bit nervy and if that ball had been over the line it would have been interesting to see how they reacted," said manager John McGlynn. "But nothing I say is going to change anything. You have to be in the Premier league down south to get goal-line technology."

While the hosts pushed for an equaliser late on, this result ultimately validated McCoist's decision to make five changes to the line-up which had toiled so badly against Hibs, with Bilel Mohsni and Arnold Peralta unceremoniously dumped from the squad altogether.

In the erratic Tunisian's stead came Marius Zaliukas, but the sense of unease in the Rangers defence remained. The Lithuanian didn't re-emerge after half time due to injury.

While that uncertainty was clear when Danny Mullen was allowed to fire a shot over the bar early on, Macleod's heroics settled the nerves and encouraged the visitors to shoot from distance.

Nicky Clark tested the goalkeeper soon afterwards with a left-foot curler, then Nicky Law's piledriver caught the luckless Craig Sives flush on the side of the head, leaving him out cold. While the player was being tended to, and rushed to nearby St John's Hospital, some unsavoury trouble broke out among the visiting support.

Back at the football, and the Boyd conundrum of a season 2014-15 was encapsulated either side of half time. Some great hold-up work at the end of the first period played Fraser Aird in for a chance, only for the Canadian youngster to take a heavy touch.

When Ricky Foster's run and pass presented him with the kind of opening he usually swallows up with alacrity, the man who scored 22 goals in the Scottish top flight could only scuff the ground, and look to the heavens in exasperation.

Templeton's mis-hit arrived soon after, as did a wild effort from substitute Jon Daly, with Lee McCulloch at least forcing a save from Jamieson with a ferocious half volley.

Livingston could have made McCoist's life even more uncomfortable had Jordan White's low finish crept in, or if referee Stephen Finnie had deemed Jacobs's header had crossed the line before Black headed it out from under his bar.