Larne Football Club may be only 90 minutes away from the greatest night in their history but boss Tiernan Lynch has revealed his lowest point as manager came only nine months ago.
After leading the Invermen to the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League in the previous season thanks to a famous victory over Danish side Aarhus Lynch was left stunned as they crashed out of the competition at the first hurdle this time round to St Joseph's from Gibraltar.
After fighting back from two goals down to win 4-2 in the European play-off against Glentoran to secure Conference League qualification for a second year on the bounce it was a real hammer blow for Lynch.
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The 43-year-old has seen it all during his six years at the club from fighting for survival at the bottom of the Championship to now being on the brink of a first-ever Premiership title, but that defeat last July forced a period of real soul-searching for him.
The experience of having to fight to survive stood him in good stead as he regrouped and went again to now find himself on the cusp of history.
“When you’re standing at The Oval last year, 2-0 down at half-time, you’re thinking ‘what happens now – it’s going to be a long summer’ and probably my lowest point as manager of Larne Football Club was losing to St Joseph’s,” said Lynch.
“That was definitely a time of reflection of ‘am I cut out for this, is this for me?’
“Obviously we had to very quickly pick ourselves up and go into a League campaign and we are where we are at the moment.”
It has been an incredible journey for Larne since Kenny Bruce took over and backed the blueprint Lynch and his brother Seamus had drawn out for the club.
A Championship title has been delivered along with three Co Antrim Shields and those two trips into Europe.
And while Lynch revealed he has questioned himself along the way he knows he has the backing of the owner, but he is also honest enough to admit he will know when the time is right "to check out".
“I don’t necessarily think that my job was on the line as long as Kenny (Bruce) was there but I definitely questioned myself, I definitely doubted myself," he said.
“I’m very honest with Kenny and I’ll tell him when I don’t feel like I can do this, he won’t need to sack me, I’ll walk.
"Hopefully not any time soon but when I feel that maybe I’ve lost the changing room or I can’t get up in the morning or I can’t sit at 12 o’clock at night doing presentations and preparing sessions, then it’s time for me to check out.
“If and when that day comes, I’ll be the first one to say it.”
That day seems a long way off though as Lynch closes in on delivering the Gibson Cup with his belief in his players as high as ever.
“The big thing in this is that you always have in the back of your mind that people are maybe coming for all the wrong reasons and that maybe is a reason why we’ve finished as low down in the table in seasons gone by," he said.
"When push came to shove, we didn’t have that grit. We did get into Europe in the last few years but we are a different animal.
“They are built on their honesty, their endeavour, how hard they work; there are no egos.
"I’d have been shocked if this team had blown up [after the Irish Cup semi-final defeat against Ballymena United] but we haven’t done anything yet and no one is getting carried away.
“Going into the training centre on the Monday morning after the Irish Cup defeat you sensed someone was getting it.
“If someone had asked me to put my mortgage on a win last Friday night I would have done it.
“That’s not something you can coach; you can set a team up but that is a part of the group and the culture at the club and Kenny has been a major part of that where it is ‘we, not me’. That’s been massive for us."
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