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As Stephen Bradley scooped up the FAI Cup last Sunday, snatching the treble away from Dundalk's clutches, he cracked a large, runny egg right over the faces of his sceptics.

Doubts from his rivals, his critics, and even some of his own fans, with 'Bradley out' calls still ringing in the ears, the 34-year-old returned to a location of his own substantial loss.

2010, in the heat of the Aviva Stadium kitchen, the biggest Cup Final attendance since 1968, the first final back at the old Landsdowne Road, Bradley cooked up a mess of a meal in centre midfield.

Sent off in extra-time, he saw his Shamrock Rovers team-mates sink from the sidelines, washed away down the penalty drain by Ciaran Kelly and Sligo Rovers.

Last Sunday, Bradley was again on the bench in an Aviva cup decider, in front of the biggest Cup Final crowd since that heartbreaking mid-November afternoon.

This time, his team handled the Aviva fever, and they burned Dundalk in the shootout.

The Lilywhites cast a grey shade over their own aspirations with Chris Shields' suspension error, a rare detail permitted to slip through the cracks of the Oriel Park front office.

Sans Shields, the midfield machine spluttered, an engine without its spark plugs, and Rovers' fantastic foursome of Gary O'Neill, Aaron McEneff, Jack Byrne, and Graham Burke drove this tie.

But Dundalk still had their headline chances - it is Dundalk, after all.

With the freedom of Ringsend out wide - Rovers' wing-back system being suspect to a swift transition - the inevitable force could attack high and into the corners and, as Rovers press waned, the white wave wasn't to be held out for long.

Michael Duffy's smashing volley sent us to extra innings, but before him Brian Gartland and Daniel Cleary got close off set-pieces.

And Georgie Kelly got even closer in extra time, almost grabbing the cup right off the stand himself if not for Alan Mannus' smart reaction save.

But Rovers, ultimately, were worthy winners, holding authority over the ball and over the shootout, perfectly stroking their spot kicks home.

You'd swear it was predetermined. Byrne, Joey O'Brien, Greg Bolger, O'Neill - it didn't matter. They knew it was going in. They knew the cup final hoodoo was coming to an end.

For Bradley, it was vindication. A personal dislike of the man or the club can colour his time as Rovers boss a darker shade, but 'The Project' has produced.

They gained 13 points this season, up to 75 from 62.

They narrowed a gap of 25 points down to 11 to a Dundalk group who'll be recalled as one of the best in league history.

They have a trophy, finally, to show for their efforts, while producing an appealing, pretty as a picture style on the pitch.

Bradley deserves a lot of credit - as do the men upstairs for sticking with him considering 18 months ago, he had to go.

But now, they need to go harder.

Bradley has resources at his disposal, the second best squad in the league with a true superstar in Byrne leading the way.

This FAI Cup win can't be all this project turns out. Shamrock Rovers must build on this.

They will be expected to run Dundalk much closer next season, simple as.

How do you do that? Squad wise, all staying as it is (and why would you leave Rovers now for another gig in this league) some cover for centre-back and a striker would be a good start.

Lee Grace and Roberto Lopes are two of the best centre-backs in the league. O'Brien is versatile and experienced.

But that's all Rovers have, and adding the flexible Sam Bone back from his loan spell at Waterford still leaves them short.

And a true game-changing number nine - the kind Dundalk can call upon with Patrick Hoban at peak performance - hasn't been seen in Hoops since Gary Twigg.

Mannus, the goalkeeper of the year, will still be around, and a who's who of the league's top midfielders are making magic on the regular around the back of The Square.

Bradley has recruited Byrne, O'Neill, Bolger, Ronan Finn, McEneff, Dylan Watts, Neil Farrugia, and Burke (twice) to do his bidding between the lines - an embarrassment of riches to add to a couple of reinforcements.

But the biggest thing Rovers can do is set the seal on three cases of club-specific necromancy.

They've got a head start on one of them - a 1-0 league win in Tallaght in August was followed by a 2-0 cup semi-final win on the road in Dalymount, dropping the curtain on the bimonthly Bohemians embarrassment show they'd grown accustomed to coming to watch.

Keeping up that good Dublin Derby form is one key. Beating Dundalk in 90 minutes - something they were unsuccessful in doing five times in 2019 - is another.

Sligo Rovers also held a strange spell over the Hoops this season, with former boss Liam Buckley's bewitching style spoiling the Shamrock challenge three times. Rovers took just five points from a possible twelve against the Bit O' Red.

It feeds into a need for greater consistency.

Rovers' 13-point advantage at the beginning of the season doesn't quite hold up under the scrutiny of games in hand over an injury-wrecked Dundalk - who went 23 League games unbeaten between an April loss to Sligo and last month's defeat to Bohs, with the League wrapped up.

But the title challenge fell away during an arduous summer grind either side of the mid-season break, as Rovers won just five points in five games - including defeats to Dundalk and Bohs, plus a draw at home to Sligo.

Is it worth asking would it have been a disappointing season if they didn't win last weekend? Probably not, considering the generation-defining team across from them.

But that gap now needs to be bridged further.

To demand a League title above all else is stupid with Dundalk daring anyone to even step up to their perch, let alone knock them off, but next season's title race can have two horses in it in the final furlongs.

And at the end of the day, Dundalk are not as dominant as the big boy in other European leagues - we saw what Cork's solidity and single-mindedness, coupled with Sean Maguire's brilliance, did to them in 2017.

They've shown the potential to match, and hopefully beat, Dundalk on any given day. The Project is no longer a work in progess. Next year will be Bradley's fifth, and his fourth full campaign.

This has been a very good season for the Tallaght club and, after receiving all the stick he previously has, Bradley fully earned his share of the spoils.

Rovers play lovely football, have brought some excellent players into the club, and have finally got a taste for silverware.

Now the attention narrows. Bradley's boys must be blinkered, focusing squarely up the M1, on disintegrating this dominant Dundalk dynasty.