Arthurlie manager Colin Reilly admits he will be bursting with pride as he leads his team out in the Scottish Junior Cup Final on Sunday.

The Barrhead men hope to lift the trophy for the first time in more than 25 years when they face Darvel at Broadwood Stadium.

It will be a special occasion for Reilly and his players, who can cement their place in the club's proud history by defeating their Ayrshire rivals.

Reilly told Barrhead Sport: “I’m honoured and privileged to lead Arthurlie into the cup final. The whole town has got behind us.

“The final message for the players will be to play the game and not the occasion.

“It’s a one-off game and they should go out and enjoy it.”

The 2023/24 league campaign ended in disappointment for Arthurlie as they suffered relegation from the Premier Division of the West of Scotland Football League by just a single point.

However, lifting silverware this weekend would be a massive achievement for the Dunterlie troops.

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It has been more than a fortnight since their final league game of the season, which saw them thump Premier Division champions Beith 5-0.

Reilly and his coaching staff have been working hard to keep the players at peak fitness levels and they hope their positive run of results in recent weeks will continue in Cumbernauld on Sunday.

“It’s been a strange period, with three weeks between the end of the season and the cup final, so it’s been all about getting that balance right in terms of guys maintaining their fitness and also getting the information into them," said Reilly.

“We’ve had a friendly and a couple of bonding sessions as well as our training.

“We’ve lost one game in our last ten, so we really picked up momentum towards the end of the season but we just left ourselves with too much to do.

“There were only three or four games throughout the season that we lost by more than one goal – and, in the ones where we did, we had a man sent off or a couple of individual errors.

“The boys have been fantastic all season, so it’s about learning from those mistakes for next season and rebuilding after the final.”

Just one player in Arthurlie’s dressing room – Bryan Wharton – has experience of playing in a Scottish Junior Cup Final but Reilly insists this does not concern him.

He said: "They’ve earned the right to be there, so they need to enjoy it."

Kick-off on Sunday is at 4.05pm. Tickets will be available at Dunterlie Park on Wednesday night, between 6.30pm and 8.30pm, and will also be on sale on the day.

The match will be broadcast live on BBC Alba.