Grown men do cry; unashamedly so, if the red blood of St Patrick's Athletic flows through your veins! Pat Dolan, mobbed and smothered by an invading horde, stood on the Buckley Park turf in Kilkenny last night and attempted to bring some sense to the mayhem around him.

But, unlike his men who had forged a hard-earned 2-1 win over Kilkenny City which, when combined with Dundalk's simultaneous defeat of Shelbourne over 100 miles further north, handed the Inchicore side the FAI National League Premier Division title, Dolan could see the futility of bringing any sense to the crazy, mad-cap scenes. Instead, he just joined in.

For one night, the Stadium of Light was relocated to the midlands. Flares lit-up the landscape, claxons blared and the travelling army of Saints fans, adopted at the end by their Kilkenny hosts, had a right knees-up to celebrate their side's sixth championship success.

Nothing is easy in this game, and Kilkenny - refusing to settle for the whipping boys' tag - played with guts and skill and, on a number of occasions, could have been the spoilsports. Three times in the second half saves from St Patrick's Athletic goalkeeper Trevor Wood came to the visitors' rescue.

But it was not to be, and St Patrick's Athletic held on to secure the win that enabled them to take the trophy. The real one may have been up in Oriel Park but the replica handed over to Eddie Gormley was as real as it gets.

It wasn't a night for sense to prevail. There was nothing pragmatic about how events unfolded in a night of drama with goals from Dundalk (thanks to walkmans and trannies) cheered with as much gusto as any that St Patrick's Athletic managed to grab themselves.

Colin Hawkins had scored St Patrick's Athletic first goal in the fifth minute to set the visitors in party mood, but, by half-time, an equalising goal, from the oldest player on the pitch, Kilkenny's Martin Reid, led to some reflection and sobering thoughts.

In the end, the St Patrick's hero, 10 minutes from the end of normal time, proved to be team captain Gormley. The goal wasn't a thing of beauty, but it was probably the most beautiful moment the midfielder will remember. It prompted a pitch invasion, more flares and an increase in noise pollution the likes of which Buckley Park has never experienced before, and unlikely to witness again.

The St Patrick's Athletic team and management were carried across the turf to the wire-mesh tunnel to their dressing room by an euphoric red-shirted army of supporters. After 33 matches, they had managed to claim their place at the top of the ladder - and nobody, but nobody, was going to deny them that. Gormley's left foot was the provider of St Patricks' unrestrained joy. Did the shot get a deflection? "It brushed against my knee, okay," admitted Kilkenny's teenager Michael Reddy, who had given the St Patrick's defence more than their fair share of torment. "No, I placed it between his legs," said Gormley. It didn't matter how it got there, it did, and Gormley was determined to savour it all.

"We're the best team in the league - and no-one can argue with that now. Shels had their run of luck but it seems that it ran out on them tonight. This is a fantastic moment, a great result and everyone involved with the team deserves it," insisted Gormley.

Dolan, who had claimed a piece of Kilkenny real estate measuring 10 feet by 10 feet in front of the St Patrick's Athletic dug-out had some sympathy for Shelbourne. "My first thought, of course, was for everyone connected with Pat's, what a beautiful moment. But my second, I must admit, was for Shelbourne. Honestly, my heart and soul goes out to them tonight. To players like Pat Scully and Stephen Geoghegan who are true champions and, I'm sure, their time will come again."

However, checking himself in case he was overplaying the sympathy, Dolan added: "But we were the best team in the National League, and we've been the best team all the way through. The table tells no lie."

And so it was, the first day of summer brought an end to an autumn, winter and spring of commitment and flair, goals and saves, that finished with St Patrick's Athletic snatching the title from under the noses of their great Dublin rivals Shelbourne. It was a crazy, crazy climax to the season - and, yet, somehow, it all made perfect sense. A great night for the National League; a great night for St Patrick's Athletic.