RETURNING Arthurlie stars Gavin Rushford and Chris Dallas were the difference at Dunterlie on Saturday and boss Gavin Duncan expressed his delight at getting them both back on board.

The pair netted in ‘Lie’s 3-1 win over Troon at the weekend with Paul Stewart grabbing the other as the Barrhead side picked up their first win of the season.

Rushford returns to the club following a stint out of the game whilst Chris Dallas has returned to his old stomping ground on loan from League Two side Albion Rovers.

The deal between the sides will see the striker boost the ‘Lie ranks until Christmas and Duncan admitted he was pleased to get the bring the duo back to the club.

He told Barrhead Sport: “It is fantastic start for the pair of them.

“Chris will familiar to the fans here having played with us before and Gavin has come back having played for us last season.

“Gav is an experienced player and has already shown what he can do following his goal and all round play.

“He offers us a lot defensively as well as going forward and I am sure he will become a key member of the squad.

“We know what to expect from Chris and should score goals for us at this level.” With Saturday’s result still fresh in the memory Duncan insisted he was delighted with the way his side performed.

Before the weekend’s win, Arthurlie had failed to secure victory in their opening three ties and you could sense the relief as Duncan praised his side.

He added: “It was a good result and a decent performance from the boys.

“We increased our work rate across the pitch and it looked to pay off.

“We had told the boys that they needed to apply themselves more, so to play the way we did and get all three points was particularly pleasing.” And with the first three points on the board the ‘Lie boss stressed his side have to put the disappointment of their start to the campaign to one side.

He continued: “The boys need to put all the negatives behind them.

“There is no point in dwelling on what has happened and they just need to look ahead to next weeks game with Shotts.

“We know it will be difficult, I know Tam and Gibby well from Auchinleck and we know it will be a hard game, I don’t think we have ever had an easy game against them.”