Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley was delighted with the mettle shown by his players as they edged rivals Bohemians without being at their best.
The SSE Airtricity League leaders stretched the gap at the top of the table after the 1-0 derby win at Tallaght Stadium and Bradley offered praise to his players for finding a way to all three points.
"It's just winning a different way. This team has shown they can win playing brilliantly and they can win when they have to dig in and that's a sign of a really, really good team," he told RTÉ Sport.
"Sometimes you can't please people. You have all the possession and they give out, you win showing great character and organisation and they give out.
"Teams have come here and done that against us and been praised to the hilt for it, so I think our players deserve tremendous credit."
Rovers adjusted their set-up, with Bradley admitting that their shape and tactics were a ploy to make life more difficult for Bohemians' pacey wingers Kris Twardek and Danny Grant.
"I thought we did that really well and I thought defensively the players were excellent," he added.
While the Shamrock Rovers manager feels the title race remains very much alive despite beating their closest rivals, he was overjoyed with the position the club find themselves in.
"It's a fantastic position. If you offered us this at the start of the year, we'd have taken your arm off but there's still a lot of football to be played, eight games and we know that," he said.
