Talks to long-suffering Queen’s stalwart DENIS CLARKE ry ally ard o his een’s

team might be even better, but it’s impossible to compare because there’s been tremendous changes, it’s a lot more professional now.

“When I joined Queen’s we had five teams and we didn’t have managers as such.

“The players ran the teams themselves and even the first team who were playing in the B Division at the time, they had a captain and a vice-captain and a selector who were all players and they picked the team and looked after it. So it’s completely different and far more professional now and the manager Peter Thompson runs a very professional ship here these days.”

Indeed, these are exciting times for Queen’s, perennial also-rans no more after Thompson’s new generation ran riot on what is undoubtedly the greatest, most glorious night in the club’s history.

That said, it remains to be seen whether it’s a one-off or a staging post for greater things as they head into tonight’s promotion-relegation second leg showdown with Dergview needing to overturn Friday’s 1-0 defeat at the Dub.

“This is certainly one of the best Queen’s teams I’ve seen,” added Clarke.

“We rarely get to cup finals so not just to win it, but to play so well was just fantastic.

“I never saw this coming. That’s the fifth time we have played Dundela this season and they won the other four, so it’s a fantastic achievement, the lads were brilliant.

“Now we’ve Dergview which is going to be tough but we’ll go for it.”

YOUNG GUN Ronan Young curls in a free-kick during the 4-1 victory over Dundela IN SAFE HANDS Queen’s captain Declan Brown receives the cup from Crawford Wilson WE’VE DONE IT Queen’s players celebrate with the Match Intermediate Cup at the National...