Bohemians interim manager Derek Pender said the players were determined to put in the kind of performance that departed boss Keith Long had been seeking all season, in the wake of their rousing 1-0 win over Shamrock Rovers at Dalymount Park.
Three days after the exit of longstanding manager Long - who'd delivered European football and a runners-up finish amid continuously high player turnover over his eight-year stint - Bohs pipped their bitter rivals in a tempestuous derby, Liam Burt firing home a stylishly taken winning goal on 72 minutes.
After a relatively tentative first half, in which the visitors had most of the ball, without creating too many clear-cut chances, the intensity was ratcheted up after the break, a series of heavy tackles flying in straight from the re-start.
Dylan Watts saw red with just over 20 minutes remaining, cutting down Burt in the final third and receiving a second yellow card. It was three minutes later that the Scot curled home the only goal, deftly side-stepping Andy Lyons before slotting past Alan Mannus from the edge of the box.
"Great night! Great result and a great performance for the lads tonight," a delighted Pender told RTÉ Sport afterwards.
"They dug in, they helped each other, they played as a team tonight. They played really a Bohs way.
"It was brilliant. It was a big Dublin derby, you don't really need to say much to get players up for that type of game. And with the fans behind you, it looks after itself.
"The first half was pretty even, Rovers probably had more of the ball. We had chances in transition where we could have hurt them a bit more if we had a bit more belief. In the first half, you'd say we were playing a bit tentative because the confidence wasn't there.
"We gave them a little bit more belief that they could take that extra touch and show their quality and Liamo does that."
Pender and Trevor Croly were placed in interim charge of the team in the wake of Long's sacking, the former acknowledging the decision came as a "shock".
"It was a bit of a shock to us as well on Tuesday, when we got told. Keith's been here so long. He's got such respect at the club. It's a very, very difficult decision for the board, I'm sure. It's all of us that are responsible for what happened during the week. We know that and that's what we said tonight.
"We had to try and put in the kind of performance that he's been looking for all season and tonight it came in the derby.
"I don't think Monday night (against St Pat's) was acceptable from any of us. We told them that when we came in. We've got a great squad, we really do. We just have to keep together, push on and back each other."
Asked whether he was interested in the job himself, Pender - a former Bohs captain - said he was sure there'd be plenty of interest in the role but emphatically admitted it was an ambition of his one day.
"We'll take it game by game. It's a massive club, there's going to be a lot of interest. I'm sure they'll do their work and we'll look after the players until that time. And whatever they want us to do, we'll do the best they can.
"Look, I've played for the club obviously, captained the club, coached at the club underage, and I'm a coach at the first team now. One day would I love to manage Bohs? F****ng right, I would!"
Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley bluntly acknowledged that his side were "poor" and branded the game "terrible" overall.
"We were poor tonight. The players have been unbelievable for a long period of time but tonight we were poor," the Hoops boss told RTÉ Sport.
"It was a terrible game in terms of quality. Sean Hoare should have scored for us from a few yards out, missed the target and then they go and score a really good goal. But there was no quality in the game, it was a really poor game.
"We've got here by learning and moving on very quickly. The players have been unbelievable all year, hence why we are where we are. We've had an off-night tonight, it happens.
"Obviously recover and focus on the game on Thursday, that's all we can do. You can't dwell too long on tonight. Recover, move on and be ready for Thursday."
The result, combined with Derry's routine win over UCD, saw the gap at the top of the table narrow to four points, albeit with Rovers still holding a game in hand. Bradley wasn't terribly interested in who was chasing them, however.
"It doesn't matter what anyone else does, it's about what we do. The players have been brilliant. Nice and calm and do what we've done for the last seven months. We've had an off-night, it's allowed, it happens."
