Candystripes captain Michael Duffy has now won the FAI Cup five times, twice with Dundalk and three times with his hometown club but said this latest triumph was his best moment in football.
He added that captaining Derry to silverware for the first time left him “lost for words” at the final whistle.
“That tops it off for me, it’s the best feeling I’ve had in football,” he said.
“The final whistle got me big time, I didn’t know what to do or where to go. Just so, so happy getting my hands on that trophy. I’ve been thinking about it for the last week to be honest, so unbelievable feeling, something I’ll never forget.”
While acknowledging that Derry, who finished fifth in the Premier Division after a tumultuous campaign that saw manager Tiernan Lynch depart in August, “weren’t good enough” in the first six months of the season, Duffy was delighted they regrouped and finished on a high with a trophy that also brings qualification for the Europa League in 2027-28.
“Mark [Connolly] has been brilliant for us and we knew we could make this happen and we went and done that. We go into next year on a massive high,” he added.
“I didn’t even think about that [Europa League] but it’s another plus and the club is going in the right direction with a lot of exciting things.”