National League playoffs / Derry City 4 Limerick 0 (agg 4-0): Gate receipts at Ballybofey and the Brandywell will soar over the next six days when Derry City and Finn Harps meet to decide which of the northwest clubs will play top-flight football next season.
And for Derry, who boasted around 4,000 fanatical fans when they hammered Limerick on Saturday night, the week will see the end of a traumatic season.
For Gavin Dykes, Derry's third manager this season, the end of the campaign couldn't come quick enough, but after the mauling of Limerick, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Obviously, I'm absolutely delighted with this result and, just as importantly, our second-half performance," he declared. "We've done well defensively over the past five matches, and against Limerick our front players balanced things out with four goals," he added.
Having lacked a cutting edge in the front line throughout the season, Dykes appears to have unearthed a special talent in Mark Farren (21), who not only scored his first senior goal but added another two strikes.
"He's just a kid, but he continues to learn and I thought he was special in the second half," continued Dykes.
Farren, incidentally, from the Inishowen area of Donegal, broke the deadlock in the 44th minute when he drove home Gary Beckett's cross into the danger area.
And five minutes after the break he doubled his side's lead by racing onto Sean Hargan's perfect pass to give Limerick goalkeeper John Healy no chance from 10 yards.
In the 58th minute, the youngster brought the Brandywell to life with a third strike, this time diverting Hargan's shot into the net at the back post to make it 3-0.
Full back Eddie McCallion ended the rout four minutes from time when his sensational shot from almost 40 yards screamed into the net.
DERRY CITY: Gough; McCallion, Hutton, McLaughlin, Hedderman; Deery, Martyn, Doherty, Hargan; Beckett, Farren. Subs: Coyle and Holt (for Farren and Beckett) 81 mins.
LIMERICK: Healy; O'Mahoney, Finucane, Purcell, Molan; Heffernan, Sweeney, Keating, Sugrue, O'Donoghue; O'Flynn.
Referee: David McKeon (Dublin).
