ARTHURLIE secretary Stephen Connelly has praised the Barrhead community for getting behind the club ahead of the Scottish Junior Cup Final.

Around 2,000 supporters are expected to cheer on the team at Broadwood Stadium, in Cumbernauld, on Sunday afternoon as they face Darvel in the end-of-season showpiece.

Arthurlie have produced special cup final polo shirts, scarves and flags in the build-up, as well as publishing a souvenir magazine.

The players and staff have even had a song written about them as the whole town shows its support for Colin Reilly’s troops.

Connelly hopes the streets of Barrhead will be empty come kick-off – and buzzing again after the final whistle has blown.

He told Barrhead Sport: “It’s a really busy time and preparations have been going well.

“There’s a real buzz around the town and the community is all buying into things. From what we can gather from ticket sales and the buses leaving from the ground, there will be a really good support there from Arthurlie on Sunday.

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“We’ve been doing our bit to promote the game and the community have been great in supporting that.

“The advice is to continue to buy tickets from the club but, come Sunday, there will still be tickets available to purchase on the gate.”

The league season ended in disappointment for Arthurlie as they were relegated from the Premier Division but the team certainly went down with a fight, losing just once in their final 10 games of the campaign.

In their last match, they recorded an impressive 5-0 win over champions Beith but, agonisingly, finished just one point from safety.

Connelly is hoping the Dunterlie players can produce another sparking performance on Sunday to write their names into the history books.

He added: “Despite the relegation, the form towards the end of the season was really good, so the players should be really confident heading into the game.

“With the way the season ended, it would be a real reward for the players, the management and the club as a whole if they were to lift the trophy on Sunday.”