The international break might have put a stop to Rangers playing any competitive football but the SPFL has still been in full flow.
The clash of the week was an obvious one with Championship title rivals Livingston and Falkirk going head to head with an Auchenhowie familiarity about the Toni Macaroni Arena fixture.
Rangers sent numerous players out on loan in January with one of them coming out on top against a former teammate.
Falkirk’s lead at the top of the Championship table has been cut to eight points, although the Bairns do have a game in hand as they look to seal back to back promotions.
Helping to put a temporary halt to proceedings was Robbie Fraser, who is expected to given a chance next season after thriving playing regular and very competitive games.
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Livingston beat Falkirk to dent Scott Arfield’s title hopes
Fraser isn’t the only player with a Rangers connection in the Livingston squad.
Danny Wilson, Stephen Kelly, Daniel Finlayson, Jamie Brandon and Andrew Shinnie all spent a long period of time at Rangers in their respective youth careers.
Few teenagers have established themselves as well as Wilson did before the club’s finances dictated that he had to move to Liverpool.
Rangers hasn’t produced a centre-half of similar quality since and there is a strong argument for Wilson being a better option than Robin Propper.
Arfield and Fraser go head to head
On the other side, was Scott Arfield.
The veteran midfielder is making just as much of an impact on the TV as he has on the pitch for Falkirk since returning to his spiritual home.
A hat-trick for Arfield on his second debut showed that he had lost none of his intelligence and finishing ability, even if the legs might not cover as many miles as they once did.
Up against him? Robbie Fraser, who had to be aware of Arfield dropping into the spaces around him throughout a physical 90 minutes that went to the wire.
It was two ex-Gers who combined as Kelly’s free-kick crashed off the bar for Shinnie to follow up and head home, giving Livi a lifeline, albeit a slim one and leave the “hammer throwers of West Lothian” victorious.
