Quality of win hailed

On an emotional night at Turner's Cross Damien Richardson said the quality of the performance his Cork City side produced proved beyond doubt that they are the best team in the country.

"It's not just the landing of the title but the manner of the landing," he said. "It was a big game for us out there tonight but we played wonderfully well. We knew we were the best team but it took bravery to go out there and prove it and that's what every one of the players did."

Derry, he said, deserved great credit for their performances over the course of the season.

"Between us, we showed people that it's not just about Dublin and my hope is that we can go on now and do the rest of the job that we started tonight because this is a great team, a great club and these are great supporters. We've only scratched the surface of the potential."

Of the decision to start with John O'Flynn, the scorer of Cork's opening goal, he said: "It was wasn't a gamble at all. He's a great player and he was ready, he showed that out there tonight. All through the team, though, the players have shown that they are champions. People said that we would have a bad patch but what was there? The defeat by St Patrick's, that was it, our bad patch was one game."

Asked about the prospect of completing the double at Lansdowne Road in two weeks' time, the City boss was emphatic about which half of the achievement meant more to him.

"This is the one that counted, it's the one the club, the county, the whole of Munster wanted us to win. I think there'll be people all over Ireland happy to see us take this . . . we'll worry about the cup another day."