Brechin City produced a much-improved display despite slipping to a 2-0 defeat against Championship side Livingston in their second Premier Sports Cup Group campaign fixture yesterday evening.

Having suffered a heavy defeat away to Partick Thistle in Saturday's opener, Andy Kirk's side faced another stern examination against a Livingston outfit widely expected to challenge for an immediate return to the Premiership this season. While the Lions ultimately claimed victory courtesy of two first-half goals, City will take plenty of encouragement from a resilient and disciplined performance, particularly after the interval.

Kirk was forced into one change from the weekend's encounter, with Kyle Bell coming into the starting line-up in place of the injured Spencer Moreland.

Unfortunately for the home side, the evening got off to the worst possible start.

With just three minutes on the clock, Livingston took the lead as Tyrese Sinclair collected possession on the edge of the area before firing a low effort towards goal. A slight deflection took the ball beyond Kyle Gourlay and nestled into the bottom corner to hand the visitors an early advantage.

Rather than allowing the setback to derail them, City gradually settled into the contest and began to compete well against their full-time opponents.

City's first meaningful opportunity arrived after 27 minutes. A dangerous cross from Greig Young on the left was punched clear by Livingston goalkeeper Jerome Prior, but only into the path of Darren Watson. The midfielder reacted quickly and attempted an ambitious lob towards the unguarded goal, only for a Livingston defender to head clear.

Just moments later, however, Livingston doubled their advantage. A perfectly weighted pass in behind the Brechin defence released Robbie Muirhead who rounded Gourlay before calmly slotting into the empty net. Brad McKay came agonisingly close to clearing off the line but the ball trundled over.

Livingston continued to threaten as the half progressed. Cammy Kerr drove dangerously down the right before smashing an effort into the side-netting on the half-hour mark, before Scott Pittman came even closer five minutes later when his fierce strike from inside the area crashed against the crossbar.

The second half almost began with another setback when a loose header back from Young presented Cammy Kerr with a one-on-one opportunity, but Gourlay reacted quickly off his line to produce an important save and keep the deficit at two.

Brechin responded well and nearly carved out an opening of their own on 48 minutes as Michael McQueen looked to race clear through the middle, only for Livingston defender Brooklyn Kabongolo to recover superbly and make a crucial clearance.

As the half wore on, City grew in confidence. They enjoyed longer spells of possession, defended resolutely and restricted Livingston to relatively few clear-cut opportunities compared to the opening period.

City's best chance of the evening arrived after 66 minutes following an excellent individual run from Watson. He picked the ball up inside his own half and burst through midfield before unleashing a powerful strike from the edge of the penalty area, but Prior was equal to it.

Livingston remained dangerous and Robbie Muirhead saw a snapshot drift narrowly beyond the far post on 72 minutes.

City continued to push for a route back into the contest and almost found one with 14 minutes remaining. Substitute Ross Milne fired an effort across the face of goal that went narrowly past the far post.

Livingston saw out the closing stages to secure a 2-0 victory but there were plenty of positives for Brechin to take from the evening. After the disappointment of Saturday's result, Kirk's side showed far greater defensive organisation, competed well against another Championship outfit and delivered an encouraging second-half display in which they matched their visitors for periods of the game.

Attention now turns to another difficult Premier Sports Cup test as another Championship side, this time in the shape of newly-promoted Stenhousemuir make the trip to the Carnegie Fuels Stadium at Glebe Park this Saturday afternoon.