Haddington had manoeuvred their way through nine South Division fixtures without dropping a point since they lost 2-1 at West Calder in early May, but they appeared to face the sternest threat to that record continuing when they came up against derby rivals Dunbar United at Millfield on Saturday.

Dunbar were positioned just behind the Hi Hi in the table, having dropped only two points, and they hadn’t lost a game in any competition since Geoff Jones took over as manager.

There were four former Haddington players in the Seasiders’ squad in the shape of Grant Thomson, Darryl Wilson, Kevin Carter and Stevie Ferguson, while Jones too and coach Derek Aitken were also at Millfield last season. Hi Hi boss Johnny Harvey made two changes, experienced pair Chris Gordon and Chris Gray returning in place of Derek Slight and Scott Wright, who were substitutes. After a slowish start, the hosts had the game’s first shot on goal in the eighth minute when Bob Berry, from just outside the box, put the ball narrowly over the bar. There hadn’t been much in the way of openings at either end when Haddington took a 14th-minute lead, after a free-kick was awarded for a foul on Michael Fairnie. Joe Murray stepped up and sent a super shot past the defensive wall towards the bottom corner to the right of Dunbar keeper Connor Wood, who could do little to prevent the goal.

A couple of minutes later, Bob Wood teed up Fairnie for the chance of a second goal but his shot went well over the bar. Dunbar’s first goalscoring opportunities came as the midway point of the first half approached, then on 26 minutes Michael Noble hit the side netting for Haddington with a free-kick, after Wood was unceremoniously brought down.

On 33 minutes a stray pass from United left-back Morrison gifted the ball to Murray, who, spotting Sinclair in space to his left, played the ball to his strike partner – a promising opening, though, came to nought as Sinclair was ruled offside. Not long after Murray’s ball found Gray on the 18-yard line but the captain’s effort just cleared the bar; Murray then found himself in the clear but he appeared to suspect he was offside and an unconvincing effort was too high.

Shortly before the break there was a blow as Gray took a knock following a strong challenge – the ex-Bonnyrigg man has enjoyed no luck with injury since his move to Millfield and was replaced at the start of the second half by Arran Ponton.

At just 1-0 as play restarted the game remained very finely balanced, with the next goal looking likely to prove crucial. Ponton had a couple of efforts within quick succession, neither of them far from succeeding, then on 58 minutes Murray sent a shot just wide of the back post after a long clearance from Derek Polowyj.

The visitors enjoyed a spell of prominence around the hour mark and were unfortunate when Keith Tait’s effort from just inside the penalty area sailed narrowly over the bar, but on 68 minutes Haddington found the net for the second time. Sub Mark Smith did the spadework on the left before picking out Sinclair in a good position – the striker placed his shot into the net from 15 yards with a first-time shot with the inside of his right boot.

There were chances at both ends after this but it was Dunbar who made one of theirs count when with 12 minutes left Carter headed past Polowyj from a free-kick, a shade ironic considering he’d never scored in two and a half years as a Haddington player.

Wright spurned a gilt-edged chance to restore the two-goal lead, then with eight minutes left Polowyj pulled off a stunning save to prevent McCormack from equalising. Wright’s finishing left something to be desired as he wasted another couple of openings, then four minutes from time the Hi Hi were awarded a penalty after Smith was brought down by Cowan just inside the box. The Dunbar defender was red carded, but Wood in goal dived the right way to punch Murray’s spot kick away.

The main thing for the Hi Hi at the end was another three points added to their tally, and they were pleased too to avoid a third successive defeat at Dunbar’s hands for the first time in more than 15 years.

Attention now turns very firmly to another home league game on Saturday against a Blackburn United outfit now sitting fourth, six points behind, after a sticky start to their campaign. Blackburn have won comfortably on their previous three visits to Millfield and are expected to figure in the promotion race, so the Hi Hi will need to be at their best if they’re to maintain their current run.