CONFIDENT Meadow boss Brian McGinty and midfielders Ben Black and Colin Spence firmly believe their side can realise their Premier Division dream.. despite just failing to clinch automatic promotion.

The Irvine side on Saturday needed to defeat hosts Rutherglen Glencairn by two clear goals in their final Super First Division match to clinch a place in the top flight.

However they just came up short at the Celsius Stadium, winning 1-0.

Now they face Arthurlie in a two-legged promotion play-off on a date still to be determined - unless there's a final twist and Largs Thistle fail to beat Cumbernauld United away in their final league game on Sunday.

McGinty was delighted with the effort and said: "When we came in the club was in state and we were third bottom. We told the boys they could not target anything until we moved off the bottom of the league and we started catching the teams above us. We are a stronger team than Glencairn and I fully expected to beat them. We had asked the boys to get five wins and we would still have a chance and we still have a chance. Now we will be on the phone to ask Cumbernauld to get their strongest team out. I'm sure Arthurlie wouldn't want to play us with the run we are on. We have upped the standards at the club.

"The guys deserve all the credit and if we are in the play-offs we have another two games to do it. Ben Carson showed why he is captain the way he performed."

Spence said: "It's a hard place to come and it was just a case of getting the three points. We now wait and see what happens in the game on Sunday but in the meantime will prepare for the play-offs. Hard work has got us where we are, the boys never know when they are beaten.

"It's great to play for my hometown team and there won't be any prouder man than me if we get promotion. If it's the play-offs, we have two cup finals coming up."

Black added: "The boys put in a good shift and it was a good result. We were unlucky not to score again, we had a few good chances. When you look at where the club was when the gaffer came in, this is a brilliant achievement. If the boys work hard, I don't think there's a team who would beat us. The boys have worked hard and deserve where we are, we will wait and see what happens on Sunday, the pressure is on Largs."