TO WIN the title once with St Patrick's Athletic could be considered pretty good going for any manager, but to do so twice almost defies unwritten Irish footballing protocol. Come 9.30 or thereabouts at Oriel Park tonight, and Brian Kerr will deserve every plaudit and accolade coming to him.
Of course he deserves the bouquets whether St Patrick's win, lose or draw against Dundalk this evening. That he helped bridge a 34-year gap by guiding St Patrick's to their fourth title in 1990 was quite an achievement, but to take them within two points of another title six years on, during which time - three summers ago - they flirted with extinction, is testimony to his managerial attributes.
This, arguabIy, should be the sweetest of their five titles for, curiously, it will be their first while based at their true home of Richmond Park. In 1952 their home was Milltown, in `55 and `56 it was Chapelizod, and, of course, six years ago they were renting Harolds Cross.
Naturally, a good many people other than Kerr have helped the latest revitalisation in St Patrick's fortunes. But, for all that, they have never been the wealthiest club in the country. Kerr's current St Patrick's incarnation ably reflects his many managerial virtues - peerless on-field organisation and unequalled work-rate and knowledge of all areas of the game.
This St Patrick's team also possess what all of their predecessors have had seemingly since time immemorial - an honest willingness to graft until every final whistle. As their 21-game, unbeaten League and Cup run has been built up they've dug deeper and deeper.
Battered and bruised, the Saints march onwards to Oriel in their demanding two-game per week run-in, seeking the victory that will secure the title. Eddie Gormley (hamstring, knee, take your pick) is a seemingly certain casualty but rumours of his demise for the rest of the season are, according to Kerr, premature.
Cumulative fatigue, mental more than physical, could be a factor as well, after Tuesday's 120-minute epic with Bohemians. "I don't know myself," muses Kerr on his team's remarkable resolve. "We've kept it lively, the training has been gentle, and one or two little changes here and there have kept us reasonably fresh."
John Coady, the Dundalk left full-back, also points out: "The adrenalin surge from games like this more than compensates for any tiredness. These are the games that players dream of from the start of the season, the games they want to play in."
The adrenalin may also pump up Dundalk for the occasion. This is the penultimate game for St Patrick's and thus the first of two chances to clinch the title - the second, if they need it, will be at home to Shelbourne next week. However, just as pertinently perhaps, it is Dundalk's final game of the season, and they are the last-day specialists of the last decade
A 1-1 draw at a packed Oriel Park in 1988 enabled Dundalk to edge out Kerr's first St Patrick's model en route to the last double achieved by any club. In 1991 Dundalk went to the leaders Cork on the final day and supplanted them with a 1-0 win, courtesy of a Tom McNulty goal.
Two years later another McNulty goal for Dundalk denied a tardy Bohemians (after their bus, in famously, broke down) the title on the final day, and last year Dundalk overtook Derry on the final day by beating Galway 2-0 McNulty scoring the crucial opener.
"I'd like to win in Dundalk," says Kerr, "but if we don't we get another chance. Before the league started if we knew we'd be going for the league in the last game we'd have been delighted with that."
An achievement in itself, but the title is theirs for the winning and losing now, and they'll surely win it.
