Over the course of their 104-year existence, Tranent Juniors have enjoyed many highs while also enduring some extremely challenging times.

The 2014/15 campaign, which drew to a close on Saturday, falls very much into the latter category, but the Foresters Park club now look forward to improving their status next season and hopefully at the very least occupying a position in the top half of the table.

Gary Small took over the managerial reins in February and has had only seven games in charge to date – he knew full well when he took the job that it was a case of first and foremost getting the season over and done with before looking to the challenge of rebuilding for the big test ahead of the club.

In their previous game a fortnight earlier Tranent had picked up a point from a 1-1 draw at home to mid-table West Calder United – this was the first time in six outings Small’s team had avoided defeat and as such the result very much had to be taken as a positive.

Another West Lothian outfit in the shape of Blackburn United provided the opposition for the 30th and final game of the season, and given the teams’ respective league positions they arrived as favourites – their promotion challenge had faltered but they’d won the reverse fixture comfortably. It was expected too they’d be on something of a high having knocked Superleague outfit Bonnyrigg Rose out of the Fife & Lothians Cup seven days earlier.

As it was, though, the fare served up by the two teams was the very epitome of a drab end-of-season affair with nothing meaningful at stake, with exciting incidents exceedingly rare to the point there were very few highlights worthy of note.

The visitors thought they might have a claim for a penalty with quarter of an hour played but in fairness recognised that Darren Ramsay’s challenge on Meekison, who’d powered down the left wing, was clumsy rather than malicious. Ten minutes later, Tranent’s only opening of the first 45 minutes was presented to them courtesy of an error from United defender Mackie, who was dispossessed on the edge of his own box by Anton McKillop – the Tranent striker slipped the ball through to Michael Collin but he could only send his shot harmlessly wide of the target. The only other chance of a turgid first half came eight minutes before the break, when home keeper Sinclair Inglis comfortably saved a header from Brown.

The second half was no more entertaining than the first, with the wind a big factor. That the game ended goalless could have come as no surprise to those who witnessed it – each side had only one notable effort each during the second period. For Blackburn, Cooke could only find the side netting when he had to stretch at the back post to get on the end of a cross from the right, while for Tranent an opening came skipper Ramsay’s way with 10 minutes left after a weak attempt at a headed clearance by a Blackburn defender – his half-volley, however, was well wide of target.

A very forgettable end, then, to a season on which all involved with Tranent won’t want to dwell – it appears inevitable there will again be wholesale change to their playing personnel.

Cold black and white statistics alone don’t tell the whole story, but the fact only 36 goals were scored in 30 outings, and almost 90 conceded, illustrates the fact it’s not just one area of the team that needs to be addressed – prolific county goalscorers Jordyn Sheerin and Sam Young look set to score more goals as individuals this season than the entire Tranent squad collectively.