DUNBAR United’s under-20s head coach has spoken of his pride for the team after the agony of missing out on the league title on the last day.

The Seasiders had to better Whitehill Welfare’s result to lift the East Region of the East of Scotland Development League.

However, a 6-1 triumph over Edinburgh Community was not enough as Whitehill Welfare picked up three points against Preston Athletic to be crowned champions.

Stuart Allan, head coach of the New Countess Park team, felt there were plenty of positives to take from the season.

He said: “I think, to be honest, we did everything we could and actually played really well.

“We said to the players we wanted to start really quickly, score early on and put pressure on Whitehill, which we did.

“We scored in three minutes and could have been more clinical but we were really good.

“We had a crowd of nearly 400 there and I could not be happier with the performance on Friday and over the course of the season.

“We were 14 games unbeaten and you cannot do a lot more.

“Early in the season, we were not consistent enough and Whitehill were.”

The club’s second season saw them fight it out for the league title until the last day and also reach the last eight of a national cup competition.

Allan felt there were plenty of positives to take from the campaign and was hopeful they could continue showing signs of improvement next term.

The players enjoyed their final training session of the season on Monday night with many expected to be part of the club’s under-20s squad again next season.

The coach said: “It was such a positive season and it should be we build on it.

“We have got the majority of the same squad for next season.”

It proved a busy weekend for a number of the squad after playing last Friday night.

Less than 24 hours later, 10 members of the first team were unavailable for the club’s final game of the season and a trip to Dundonald Bluebell.

That meant Jake Henderson called into the first team alongside Thomas Allan while Finlay Goldie, Lyle Robertson and Adam Collin were all drafted onto the bench.

The under-20s coach said: “That is testament to the first team management giving them a chance and testament to the pathway for getting boys into the first team.”