DUNBAR United travelled to the western extremity of the Lothians on Saturday to fulfill their penultimate South Division fixture of 2013/14, against bottom dogs Harthill Royal, who only recently recorded their first win of another long, hard season for them.

Davie Lees’ Seasiders have in recent weeks been struggling in terms of player availability – here they had 11 fit players, while on the bench two trialists joined Steven Glynn, still recovering from injury.

Bob Baillie remained in hospital following injury suffered a week earlier against Blackburn United, while Steven Girdwood was also injured and both Shaun Hill and Ross Cowan were sidelined with viruses. In addition, Ryan Gibb was still suspended.

Dunbar enjoyed the novelty of visiting Harthill in sun-bathed conditions, but they found Gibbshill Park’s playing surface surprisingly firm, a factor which was to cause both sides considerable difficulties when it came to control of the ball.

The visitors were first to threaten, less than a minute in, when John Twaddle sent in a shot which forced the home keeper to save at full stretch.

Top scorer Sam Young wasn’t far away with a shot just over the bar, but Harthill fought back and twice forced good saves from Connor Wood.

Given there was not much at stake it was a reasonably entertaining contest, with Chris Grant next to threaten a goal, only for the home keeper to claw the ball away safely.

The Seasiders were creating more chances than their opponents, but route-one tactics allowed Harthill to create opportunities twice in quick succession, although without success ultimately.

The breakthrough came Dunbar’s way on 39 minutes, Grant stroking home his 16th goal of the season from close range after the home defence failed to properly clear a long throw from Kevin Lees.

Harthill did have a chance to restore parity before the break but the ever-reliable Wood in the Dunbar goal thwarted their hopes with another super save.

Dunbar were dominant early in the second half, with a Young header cleared off the line within a minute of the restart before the same player twice came close again within a short space of time.

Lees and Twaddle put shots wide of target as the Seasiders sought to put the game to bed, and the second goal finally materialised after 65 minutes, again stemming from a long throw from Lees – Young headed the ball on and into the path of the tireless Steven Tait, who read the situation cleverly to strike home.

With 20 minutes remaining, Harthill nearly pulled a goal back when a lobbed effort beat Wood but drifted an inch or two over the bar. Steven Tait was unlucky with a back-post header which struck the bar, while Harthill also hit the upright from a corner before a Dunbar defender cleared.

In the end it was a deserved and fairly comfortable win for Dunbar.

The 2013/2014 season draws to a close for the Seasiders on Saturday when they entertain Whitburn Juniors at New Countess Park. A home win would guarantee a fifth-place finish.