The home side came into this game on the back of their first league win of 2008 against Dunbar United the previous week but they almost found themselves a goal down within the opening minute, Ryan Docherty stepping in off the right hand side to ping in a left foot shot that Cunningham did well to hang onto. Three minutes later Tranent found their way to goal too, Devine's cross from the left forcing Barry Hunter to palm it away from danger before Tait turned inside the box and zipped an angled drive across the face of goal and past the left hand upright. David Fowler was then unlucky not to connect properly with an ambitious overhead kick as Andy McQuillan's cross ultimately went begging and Lee Docherty was even more unfortunate just a couple of minutes later when he rolled Devine to make enough space to smash a cracker into the top left hand corner of Cunningham's net only for referee Mr. Jamieson to blow his whistle as the ball was on it's way, adjudging the striker to have fouled the Tranent left back as he turned him. A Peter Lynch free-kick out on the right then allowed Lee Docherty to peel off his marker and redirect the ball back across the face of goal where Cunningham was alert enough to punch clear from Alan Brown's head. Murray also came close at the other end when he escaped Davie Sneddon's attentions just long enough to try and curl an effort into the top left corner but his accuracy left a fair bit to be desired. McQuillan then set up Lee Docherty for a first tim pop from the right angle of the eighteen yard box but Cunningham was equal to the effort. A minute from the interval Brown sliced through the middle of the home side's defence only to over run the ball at the last gasp as Cunningham bore down and booted clear.
Ten minutes after the restart a clever step over from Murray won him a yard on the edge of the area but his resultant shot was blocked by Craig Spence before play switched almost instantly to the other end where a Ryan Docherty corner offered Brown a free header that he couldn't direct on goal. Gibb was the architect of the next chance when he managed to get the ball into the box from his left wing beat but his Belters team mate Tait hit a rushed drive high and wide of Hunter's goal. Brown then swapped passes with United trailist Scott Livingstone, on as a substitute for Steph McCardie, to dink a smart through ball in front of McQuillan but, with only Cunningham to beat, he could only roll it straight at the big 'keeper and the young striker was equally disappointed a few moments later when his looping header from Lynch's corner was acrobatically tipped over the top by Cunningham. It was McQuillan who was continuing to pose the home defence the most problems and he almost found himself the beneficiary of a clever piece of play by Livingstone but when he tried to round Cunningham on the midfielder's through ball the Tranent No.1 dived bravely at his feet to deny him. When Mark Campbell then sent a diving header narrowly wide with barely a minute of normal time left it seemed the best chance to break the stalemate had come and gone but a much better chance was carved out in the final seconds of added on time when Brown accepted a Campbell pass to surge past McPartlin and burst onto the edge of the six yard box where he drew Cunningham only to guide his shot against the base of the left hand post with the goal gaping and with Lee Docherty screaming for a square ball that would have left him with a tap into an empty net.
Blackburn United Line-up: Hunter, Polwart (Thomson 31), Sneddon, C.Spence, McCardie (Trialist - Livingstone 67), Fowler, R.Docherty, A.Brown, Lynch, L.Docherty, McQuillan (Campbell 87) Subs (not used): Graham, Carlin
Tranent Line-up: Cunningham, McPartlin, Devine, Ch.Smith, Johnston, McEwen, Gibb, Tait, Fraser, Murray, Cr.Smith Subs: Riding, Welsh, Butler, Adamson, Dilworth
Referee: Mr. Scott Jamieson
