Dundee left Livingston with a trail of what-might-have-beens in their wake.
What would have happened had Peter MacDonald scored his spot-kick just after the break rather than seen it saved by Livi keeper Darren Jamieson?
What if their makeshift defence had managed to stand firm in the crucial minutes that followed MacDonald’s opening goal for the Dens men?
How would things have turned out had referee Craig Charleston decided that Craig Beattie was bundled over by Jason Talbot inside the box rather than dived, as was blindingly obvious, when the score was tied at 1-1?
Finally, what if goalkeeper Kyle Letheren had managed to hold on to the ball rather than let it spin invitingly in the air for Martin Scott to score the home side’s winner with just four minutes left?
Arriving in West Lothian on a four-game winning run and looking to increase the pressure on Championship leaders Hamilton Accies, defeat instead meant an end of Dundee’s sequence and a four-point gap between them and Accies, who beat Falkirk at home.
MacDonald was left to ponder what might have been had just a few things gone for the visitors rather than against.
“I caught the penalty well and thought it was going in, but he saved it it was as simple as that,” said the striker, who had been pushed in the back by Callum Fordyce.
“I didn’t let that bother me and it was great to get a goal so soon afterwards. I showed it didn’t affect me and I will always step up to take them.
“At the goal, I knew the ball (a punt from goalkeeper Letheren) was going over me and I took the chance and read it. It bounced up nicely for me on my left foot and I was always going to hit it nice and early.
“So we got ahead but then lost a goal far too quickly. If only we had shut up shop for the crucial minutes that followed our goal, because Livingston getting back in it so quickly meant they were then in the ascendancy.
“Then when he (Beattie) was fouled that was a stronger penalty than my one. I guess it’s a case of some you get some you don’t. We would have taken a draw but it was then demoralising to lose the late goal.
“To say we are disappointed is an understatement because we had been on a really good run. All runs come to an end, though, whether that be at Livingston or somewhere else.
“We have a free week next week so we can work hard and then have the weekend off to relax before getting going again. We go forward to the next match and forget about Livingston.”
While it would have been nice to have kept just a point behind Hamilton, MacDonald insisted it is early days yet in the promotion race.
“It is not even Christmas yetor even Novemberso to start talking about who will be champions is rubbish,” he said.
“You start talking about who will be champions in April/May.”
MacDonald showed plenty of character to open the scoring for the Dens men so soon after failing from the penalty spot. It was his 12th goal of the season and a great finish.
His head must have dipped, though, when he looked up to the other end to see Keaghan Jacobs given too much space at the edge of the box to fire in the equaliser just two minutes later.
While the first half wasn’t worth writing home about, the match opened up in the second and it could have gone either way.
Livi are an attractive side with several creative players and frequently opened the Dark Blues up, while the Dens men always looked like they could grab a goal themselves.
They should have had the chance to do so when Beattie was bundled over by Talbot as the pair raced for a loose ball inside the Livi box. It looked no, it was a stone-wall penalty, but ref Charleston said no.
To make matters worse he booked Beattie for simulation and the Dundee striker was substituted by boss John Brown after continuing the debate with the match official for too long afterwards.
His anger was understandable because you could go all season without seeing a clearer foul than that one. With the match to-ing and fro-ing, it was Livingston who grabbed a dramatic winner just four minutes from time.
The impressive Coll Donaldson got his head to a free-kick that was played into the Dundee box and keeper Letheren seemed to have it covered. However, the ball spun out of his hands and looped up into the air. In came Livi sub Scott to shoot home from just a yard out and break Dundee hearts.
Frustrated Dens boss Brown said: “You saw how tight the game was. “We missed a penalty kick and they got a late goal which we should have defended better.
“We went into the game having to make three positional changes in the back four, and maybe that caught us out.
“At the death, you feel as though your goalkeeper is going to take that, but he never did. That is something we need to look at and work on.
“Peaso (MacDonald) has been different class for us, and there was the penalty miss but he got his goal after that. So there wasn’t a great deal in it.
“It is a wee reminder to my players that there is no game where you are guaranteed points.”
Like most of those watching, Brown was baffled by the decision to deny Beattie a spot-kick.
“It was a stone-wall penalty,” he said.
“Beattie is an experienced player and he has got his body in front of the player and was bundled over. I can’t see how it’s not a penalty.”
Asked how the player could get booked, Brown replied: “You would need to ask the referee because I can’t work them out at times.”
His opposite number John McGlynn, who takes his team to face former club Raith Rovers tomorrow, was delighted with the manner of the victory.
He said: “Dundee are a good side, so for them to go in front then us to come back and win the match in the closing stages speaks volumes for my players.”