Kilmarnock 2 Livingston 0

Kilmarnock recorded a second successive home victory and clean sheet to claim another huge three points in the fight to stay in the William Hill Scottish Premiership.

Joe Hugill and Findlay Curtis provided the goods in either half against a stubborn Livingston side, who tried their best to disrupt Neil McCann’s men throughout.

Everyone inside Rugby Park remembered the late Jim Fleeting with a poignant minute’s applause prior to kick-off. The win was a fitting tribute to the great man.

Killie showed their attacking intentions straight from the off, winning the ball back at kick-off, which quickly led to a Greg Kiltie cross into the box. This found Hugill, but the striker couldn’t get a clean connection on the ball at first attempt, before shooting narrowly wide at the second.

The hosts continued to pile on the pressure in search of an opener, with Liam Polworth seeing his effort blocked. Hugill then had another opportunity go wide of the target, this time with a header.

Killie were also made to stay resolute at the back, with Robbie Deas & Co. kept on their toes as Livi looked to hit on the counter and make the most of set pieces.

However, it wasn’t long before the boys in blue and white broke the deadlock. Hugill got on the end of a powerful Marley Watkins delivery, with his touch diverting the ball into the far bottom corner beyond Prior on 25 minutes.

It was no more than Killie deserved as they looked to push for more before the interval.

Curtis thought he’d bagged his first for the club (he later would) after fantastic wing play and interchanging on the right. Jamie Brandon pulled his cross back perfectly for the attacker, but Prior pulled off a magnificent save to deny the newest member of Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad.

The visitors came close to levelling the score before half-time, but Kerr’s acrobatic attempt went way wide at the end of a promising counter-attack.

After the break, Livi unsurprisingly came out swinging. Robbie Muirhead looked threatening as he looked to get his side back in the game.

Despite Livi’s onslaught of crosses, it was Killie who had the next chance to score. Polworth robbed Wilson in possession with some fantastic pressing, but the midfielder failed to get a shot off before the danger was cleared for a corner.

In a nervy second-half, similar to last week’s triumph, opportunities were few and far between. Brandon got himself into a good position after nicking the ball on the right around the halfway line. The right-back dragged his shot wide. Substitute Brad Lyons then tried his luck from distance, but the goalkeeper wasn’t worked. Fellow sub David Watson then couldn’t quite stretch far enough to get a proper connection on a chipped cross into the box from Kiltie.

Curtis showed tremendous feet to get away from Kerr. Staying on his feet despite repeated fouls from his Livi counterparts, referee Ryan Lee frustrated the home crowd by failing to award Killie a free kick in a dangerous position.

Smith struck the outside of the post for Bartley’s men as they looked to keep the game alive.

But it was Killie who would get the all-important goal to settle the game and secure another vital three points.

Hugill took an outstanding touch to knock the ball into space beyond Finlayson. As he got closer to the box, he lifted his head to notice Curtis in the box waiting for a tap-in. The cross trundled slightly ahead of the on-loan Rangers man, but he steadied himself, showing great composure to score with his left foot. A brilliant goal from Killie, with Hugill the orchestrator.

Ayrshire’s finest saw out the remainder of the game fairly comfortably. Livi were reduced to 10 men after a VAR check which resulted in Kabongolo sent off for the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity when he pulled back Curtis.

The win sees Killie stretch their advantage of the West Lothian side to 12 points with seven games of the league campaign to go. Killie remain 11^th after St Mirren’s victory at Falkirk.

Crowd: 5,703.

Team: Roos, Brandon, Deas, Stanger, Schjønning-Larsen (Thompson, 66), Polworth (Lowery, 66), Tshibola (Lyons, 56’), Kiltie (McKenzie, 79’), Curtis, Hugill, Watkins (Watson, 56’).

Unused subs: Stryjek, Mayo, Anderson, Cleșcenco.