Tranent made the shortest journey of their South Division campaign last Saturday afternoon to face derby rivals Haddington Athletic at Millfield in what was the 200th recorded competitive meeting of the clubs.

New manager Gary Small returned to his former club not much more than a week after leaving his assistant manager’s role there, having originally expected not to be present due to a prior commitment, however he had only 13 players to call on as he looked to build on a moderately encouraging showing in a 3-2 defeat at Falkirk Juniors a week earlier.

Two changes to Small’s team saw Andrew Horne introduced in midfield while ex-Dunbar United midfielder Scott Barclay was listed as a trialist – new signing from Edinburgh United, defender David Heggie, started on the bench.

Keen to impress the new man in charge, Tranent started encouragingly and came close to opening the scoring early on – Brydon Fairgrieve’s free kick clipped the crossbar on its way out of play.

Four minutes later a speculative high ball from Cammy Reynolds on the left dipped towards the home goal but landed just the wrong side of the crossbar, ex-Tranent keeper Polowyj though watched anxiously as it dropped and needed treatment for a head knock after falling backwards into the goal.

Another Fairgrieve free kick on 12 minutes went wide of the target but at this stage there was little to suggest Haddington were the superior outfit. Alex Valenzuela pulled off a good save from home striker Sinclair as the Hi Hi threatened for the first time, but the course of events turned significantly 14 minutes in.

Haddington’s Berry came forward from midfield and into the Tranent box, prompting Valenzuela to race from his line to deal with the danger posed – the young keeper caught Berry, who stayed on his feet and hit a shot which was blocked on the line; the referee though pointed to the penalty spot and showed Valenzuela a red card, a bitter blow for Tranent.

The highly rated keeper had suffered disappointment in the reverse fixture too, back in October, when he had to be substituted at half-time with a head knock. Cammy Reynolds was the man who stepped forward to don the gloves in the absence of a substitute goalkeeper, and his first act was to stop the penalty kick taken by Sinclair.

After this though Haddington had the majority of possession, without doing a great deal with it in terms of putting Reynolds under pressure. The hosts felt they’d a worthwhile penalty claim on 26 minutes when he challenged Sinclair clumsily in the box but the ref saw nought amiss. Eventually Haddington went in front through Ponton on 37 minutes – they then had the ball in the net twice more before the break but the referee deemed both goalscorers were offside and gave neither goal.

The Hi Hi continued to dominate possession in the second half as things got a little feistier, and Small’s men were reduced to nine men as Anton McKillop collected two bookings in little more than six minutes, for late challenges on former Tranent players Murray and Fairnie.

Facing half an hour’s play two men short, Tranent held out until the 73rd minute, when Haddington substitute Wright doubled the home lead, but the roof fell in on them as they went on to concede another three goals inside six minutes – scored by Gray (75) and McPartlin (78 & 81), both among the eight former Tranent players in the home ranks.

Only the least realistic would expect an instant change in Tranent’s fortunes after a tough few months, and with only five games now remaining it’s a case of getting through, hopefully with a couple of positive results, before regrouping with 2015/16 in mind.

The new boss could hardly have asked for a tougher series of fixtures with which to start – after trips to face Falkirk Juniors (fourth) and leaders Haddington, they’re at second-placed Whitburn Juniors on Saturday.