Kevin Doherty: Drogheda survival crucial in thriving league

Kevin Doherty says that the motivation to stay involved in the Premier Division of the SSE Airtricity League was a big driving force in their success over the last 10 days.

Drogheda United won the Sports Direct FAI Cup, upsetting Derry City at the Aviva Stadium, before maintaining their top flight status with a relatively straightforward 3-1 victory over Bray Wanderers on Saturday.

All told, followers of Drogs can look forward to a 2025 filled with top-flight soccer, as well as the lure of European participation during the summer and beyond, potentially.

Speaking on RTÉ's Game On, United manager Doherty said that the way things have been going recently, the gap between the Premier Division and the First Division has become more pronounced.

"The two years previous [to this one] and the year before when Tim [Clancy] was in charge, we punched above our weight," he said.

"I genuinely think this would have been the worst year to go down in a long, long time because you can see the interest in the league.

"There's so many more things happening with solidarity money for the league, and being in the Premier Division makes things more possible.

"I spoke to the players before the game in the dressing room in Tallaght because we were playing Bray and the Bray team from 1999 were on the pitch at half time in the Aviva when we played.

"It hit me when I said it to them, 'in 25 years that'll be you, lads. You've won the FAI Cup, it's a great achievement but it'll be tinged with regret and sadness if you look back and say that we were relegated a week later.'

"So it's whatever motivates you and motives players. It can be fear of failure sometimes, or dreaming of success. So whatever each individual player had to do to motivate themselves to be