But to come out of it with the cup has made it all worth while. We felt we were under a huge amount of pressure going into it, not because we were favourites, but because not to win it would have made the entire season a failure.

And not just this season either. After all the hard work and sacrifices and near-misses, to leave the last couple of years behind, having won no more than a couple of League Cups would have been a disaster for us. It wouldn't have come near justifying the sacrifices and it would have been a massive underachievement.

That combined with the game against St Pat's made it an amazing experience. It was fairytale stuff. We were behind and we showed great resolve and great resilience and the fact we had to come back three times was a serious test of our character. It just showed the never-saydie attitude from the camp.

That's been there all year and to show it again on such a day went some way towards consolation after losing out in the Eircom League campaign.

All of that combined just shows how Stephen Kenny has transformed the club and put us back on the map. We are back up at the business end of the table which is a great addition to the whole league. I think the league needs us and you can see that in the fan base we have and the travelling support we bring with us everywhere we go. I suppose prior to Stephen's arrival, things were mediocre and we were fighting off relegation battles and the club just seemed to be going nowhere. Everyone had a false sense of security.

But when Stephen came, I think he immediately realised the potential and put structures in place and got everyone based in Derry for training. The league had moved on with some clubs going full time and it was either move with the times or fall behind.

We could have become a second tier club very quickly but Stephen, being a young, ambitious manager himself, wanted to move on. So players had to reside in Derry and he made the sacrifice himself by moving his family up here. He led by example and set the standard for all of us.

Obviously Pat Fenlon won't be doing that but hopefully that won't change anything. I think the squad of players he'll inherit are second to none and I know that might sound like a bold statement but I really believe that. Not many teams have our will to win and desire to fight for each other. It's important that continuity is kept.

It will be strange to have Pat on our side. He's always been on the other end of a competitive rivalry between us and Shelbourne but we knew from a month ago Stephen was going. We needed a quality manger and we've got that. Yet it's not nice to see Pat leaving on the back of financial difficulties down there because it doesn't look good for the league.

The on-field product has improved beyond recognition but it's just worrying that behind the scenes, things still aren't right.

It can have such a negative impact on the football itself. The Eircom League has become a joke because of one scandal after another and it's being remembered for that, season after season. If the league is to improve, we need to improve the off-field shambles because players are working so hard to provide supporters with an entertaining product. I suppose if there was a wish I had for next season that might be it.

The league becoming more professional behind the scenes.

That, and obviously Derry keeping up their performances of recent seasons.

There's a risk of us losing players to Dunfermline and elsewhere, and we might need to strengthen our squad because of the number of games we've had to play. But that's the problem with having such a significant level of success in this league.