Dundalk stalwart Chris Shields paid tribute to the resolute mentality of his team-mates after the Lilywhites cantered to another league title at Oriel Park on Monday night after recording a 3-2 victory over Shamrock Rovers.
The feat of winning the title with four matches to spare is scarcely believable when you factor in the league standings in mid-April.
Rovers enjoyed a 13-point advantage over Dundalk at that stage of the season, but an unbeaten run of 29 matches, including a 23-game streak in the league helped to propel Vinny Perth's side to another league crown.
Shields has spent seven season in the trenches with Dundalk since being plucked from relative obscurity by the late Sean McCaffrey and the combative midfielder was in ebullient mood at full-time.
"Probably the best way to cap it off, to win against your nearest rivals..." - Chris Shields speaks to RTE Sport following Dundalk's title win pic.twitter.com/ydX5dacdPK
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) September 23, 2019
"It’s absolutely fantastic and probably the best way to cap it off - to beat your title rivals on the night and go and win it is a cut above the rest, and it really means a lot to us," he said.
"They’ve been a good team all year and it probably should have been closer in hindsight. They’d admit the same.
"But you have to win the games in different ways.
"We proved that against Waterford, we proved that in the EA Sports Cup final - you’ve got to dig in sometimes and that’s what we did."
Reflecting on an unforgettable period for the club, Shields added: "It’s absolutely brilliant, five out of six, there’s not been a dominance like it.
"It’s just rewards for this group of players.
"I’ve seen players come and go, but there’s a core group there that are absolutely fantastic within the club and within the squad."
Man of the match Michael Duffy speaks to Tony O'Donoghue as the Lilywhites claim the title.#RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/abuDH5D6PS
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) September 23, 2019
Man of the match Michael Duffy scored a stunning drive on the night, and he echoed the sentiments of his team-mate, saying: "To turn it around and go on the run we are on is unbelievable.
"We deserve it for doing that."
We need your consent to load this SoundCloud contentWe use SoundCloud to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
