Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell claimed referee John Beaton spoke to him “like a second-class citizen” after Livingston claimed their first league win of the season at the Dingwall side’s expense.

It was an ugly win for Livingston, who were helped by the sending off of Ross County full-back Carl Tremarco in the 51st minute. Kettlewell was then also dismissed at the full-time whistle after protesting the legality of Jon Guthrie’s winning goal.

But it was the officious manner of the referee that infuriated Kettlewell as much as the result.

“I can’t complain about the sending off but I can about the goal,” he said. “Our second corner, Guthrie and [Ross] Stewart are involved and there is a foul given for a carbon copy of the situation. He then doesn’t give a foul for their goal which frustrates me.

“You speak about levels of consistency and how you address or speak to someone. I have got myself involved with the referee at the end there but I am not having someone speak to me with such arrogance.

“He sent me off because I lost my cool but I approach people in the right manner and when someone treats you like a second-class citizen then I won’t be having that.

“Tensions are high, the passion is high, I want my team to win, I want my team to come here and get something out of the game. But when I go and ask the referee about the scenario and he tells you, ‘away you go, you’re clutching at straws’, then that becomes a wee bit of an annoyance to me.

“I don’t link this to every official, because not every official speaks to you like that. That’s the wee bit where we maybe all need to get on the same page, whether guys speak to you in that fashion or whether they understand that wee bit of passion and the desire for your team to do well.”

The game itself offered little to write home about with few genuine chances at either end. Scott Pittman missed the best of them after he knocked a Nicky Devlin cross wide from six yards out.

Billy McKay was County’s most likely threat with the striker threatening twice from aerial positions but the game changed when Tremarco was dismissed for a second bookable offence just six minutes after the break when he clipped the heels of Devlin.

Having gone into the book after a clumsy first-half foul on Pittman, it signalled the end of the Liverpudlian’s afternoon. Shortly after, the Dingwall side rang the changes with Josh Mullin and Josh Reid replacing Connor Randall and Billy McKay as Kettlewell’s side re-jigged their shape to cope with the numerical disadvantage.

However, it proved ill-designed to keep Livingston from exploiting their extra man. Gary Holt’s side took the lead after Alan Forrest’s short corner landed at the feet of Julien Serrano. His cross was met by a powerful header from Guthrie to break the deadlock.

Ross County responded committing all five substitutions as they looked to salvage something from the game but their frustration got the better of them as Livingston looked the most likely to add to their tally.

Winger Alan Forrest twice sent inviting balls across into the six-yard box as the hosts made use of their extra man.

Regardless of how the win was achieved, Holt was satisfied as they look to navigate away from the bottom end of the table.

“I’ve talked openly this week with the players that I wanted an ugly, 1-0 win,” he said. “And we got that. With the chances we created we should have scored more but I got my win.

“The last thing I said to them before the start of the game was to make sure they came back in with the three points. I didn’t care how they did it as they long as they did. We needed a reward today for the work we had done in the first month. We needed to get something out of the game and we got that.

“After the Aberdeen game last week I told them they had to change how they went about things. I wanted them to make this as ugly as possible and to make it a battle. I wanted them to make it a Livi style of game. They did that.”