TWO teams with aspirations of the top-six look to be going in different directions. Livingston continued their march towards repeating that remarkable feat of last season while Aberdeen are in danger of tumbling out of the picture altogether. 

Ayo Obileye and Alan Forrest goals saw David Martindale’s impressive Lions move to within a point of the holy grail after a ferocious performance, which at times threatened to blow away the miserable Dons. 

When your own fans are telling you to “get to f***” and you haven’t beaten anyone not in League Two since the football resumed, it can only be a matter of time before even Dave Cormack loses his patience. A large section of the Aberdeen support seems to have lost theirs in Stephen Glass, despite a late, frantic rally and Christian Ramirez consolation goal. 

The Herald: It was another difficult day for Stephen Glass and his Aberdeen team It was another difficult day for Stephen Glass and his Aberdeen team

With the wind mercilessly swirling and the rain incessantly falling, it always felt like we were in for anything but a celebration of silky football, even if Carnaval de Paris, that great anthem of France 98, had optimistically snaked its way through the shivering masses before kick-off. 

At least the Aberdeen fans seemed ready to make an afternoon of it. They were in fine voice from the start, desperate for Glass’ stuttering team to put someone to the sword. But their patience was both required and, as frustrations grew, tested. 

No more so than when Livingston snatched the advantage just nine minutes in. It had been a bitty affair, crying out for someone - anyone - to get their foot on the ball and show some kind of composure. Ayo Obileye did just that. 

Predictably, it had been Bruce Anderson who crafted the goal. From the off he was a thorn in David Bates and Ross McCrorie’s side, pulling at their rather loose threads and waiting for Alan Forrest or Cristian Montano-sized gaps to appear, which they did with astonishing frequency. Released by Aberdeen, it was almost like he had a point to prove. 

After a spell of tame Dons pressure, his clever run into the channel teased Calvin Ramsay into a rash challenge. When the deep free kick was timidly cleared and fell to Anderson’s foot, he shifted into space, fired towards goal, and ran off in delight as Obileye flicked it beyond the despairing Gary Woods with all the ease of a man putting jam on toast in the morning. That’s now six goals this season for the robust defender, who excelled again and showed more than once during the match that he wasn’t ready to give up his day job quite yet. 

As the first-half grew, so too did Livingston. Jason Holt, practically an elder statesman now, was there to mop up any semblance of Aberdeen danger (and those moments were few and far between), Stephane Omeonga was a joy in the middle of the park, and Forrest, re-energised in recent weeks, had Ramsay desperately looking around for back-up whenever he motored off down the left. 

A concerted spell of pressure in the aftermath of the goal aside - and concerted is being kind - Aberdeen were offering little. Glass had rung the changes, three in total, from the Ross County loss, but things weren’t clicking. 

For swathes of the half they had plenty of the ball in Livi’s final third. But too often a man in red got near the box, looked around for options and saw only a black wall. On more than one occasion, Aberdeen’s attacks ended with the ball harmlessly in the upper echelons of the stand behind Max Stryjek’s goal after a frustrated, wayward shot. 

As if to sum it up, the half came to a close when the Aberdeen cavalry swarmed Stryjek’s box for a final free kick, only for Jonny Hayes to play it woefully short and to a Livi man. It could only get better. 

At least the high spirits remained among the travelling faithful, who by this point had swapped the songs for chants of “we’re really bad” - only it was a tad more colourful than that. Within moments of the second-half, however, their jovial spirits turned to indignation and fury. 

The Herald: Bruce Anderson impressed against his former side Bruce Anderson impressed against his former side

Some in West Lothian had yet to take their seats again when Montano - one of two Livi changes - galloped in from the left and poked the ball through the heart of Aberdeen’s defence into the path of the onrushing Forrest, who only ever looked like scoring and so it proved. Is it time to throw him into the Scotland conversation alongside his brother at the very least? It might just be. 

By now the self-deriding Aberdeen fans were baying for Glass’ blood. The boos were loud, the chants telling him to go even fiercer. If there’s a way back from this, it’s hard to see it. 

A late rally, which saw Ramirez fire beyond Stryjek to give the Dons hope and Livi clear two efforts off the line, failed to spark the comeback he needed as the Lions - who lost Montano for a second yellow following some handbags - somehow held on.