Arthurlie and Neilston have paid tribute to former goalkeeper Denis Connaghan after his death at the age of 79.

Connaghan played for the Barrhead club following a successful career at St Mirren and Celtic.

He was influential in Arthurlie's run to the 1981 Scottish Junior Cup final, in which they were narrowly beaten by Pollok at Hampden Park.

Connaghan went on to help out at Neilston and was a valued member of the Brig O’Lea club's committee for many years.

A Neilston spokesperson said: “Denis joined our committee almost 30 years ago and he was a man of integrity, dignity, modesty, knowledge and experience.

"He will be greatly missed.”

Andy Whiteford, Neilston manager, added: “Such sad news. An absolute gentlemen and a true Neilston legend, whom I had the pleasure of working with and learning from over the last 20 years at the club.”

An Arthurlie spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Denis at this difficult time.”

Connaghan joined St Mirren from Renfrew Juniors in 1966 and made 127 appearances for the Buddies before moving to Celtic in 1971.

He played 56 games in six years for Jock Stein's side, including a Scottish Cup final win over Dundee United and both legs of the European Cup semi-final against Atletico Madrid in 1974.

Connaghan was also in the team as Celtic clinched a record ninth consecutive title at Falkirk in the same year.

He went on to play for Morton and Clyde.

Meanwhile, Arthurlie suffered a potentially damaging defeat against Largs Thistle on Saturday, despite taking the lead and having a man advantage for more than half of the match.

Dylan Dykes fired the hosts in front midway through the opening period, only for Darryl Duffy to equalise almost immediately.

Duffy turned villain for Largs five minutes before the break as he was shown the red card following a scuffle.

Joe Wilton in the visiting goal was called into action on more than one occasion, including keeping out a Conor Bolger header, as Arthurlie tried to regain the lead.

However, they were hit with a sucker punch as Will Sewell crept in at the back post to grab all three points for Largs and leave Arthurlie in the relegation zone.

The Dunterlie side are four points from safety, although they do have games in hand over teams around them.

This Saturday, Arthurlie travel to Hurlford, with a 1.30pm kick-off at Blair Park.