Tiernan Lynch the alchemist in Larne’s rise to top spot

It provided the Larne boss a few stolen private moments out of sight of the cameras and on-pitch scenes of celebration at Seaview following the title-winning 2-0 triumph over Crusaders.

Although impossible in such a brief timespan to truly reflect on the scale of his achievement, it hopefully offered Lynch an opportunity to take a breath and acknowledge his seconds-old status as manager of the best team in the country.

Stark contrast to his arrival at Larne in the early months of 2017.

The art of alchemy is understood as the tradition of attempting to transform base metals into gold.

An apt metaphor for the journey by Larne under Lynch from a group languishing in the depths of the Irish League second tier to a rise to reach the pinnacle of our game.

Of course, any mention of gold will lead to the multi-million pound bankroll by owner Kenny Bruce just months into Lynch’s life as Larne boss.

Decisive in offering Lynch previously-unthinkable tools with which to work – and, crucially, a revamped ground and facilities as the base – the investment still had to translate from pound signs on a spreadsheet to points on the pitch.Lynch’s composure has been admirable under the spotlight of sustained scrutiny at a manager given such coveted keys to the kingdom but so-often considered unworthy of the role of ruler by outsiders.

Across the past five years under Bruce’s ownership it has often seemed a case that every step of progress masterminded by Lynch must always be measured up against a price tag that demands everything but values little of the process.

Lynch’s public mantra of the belief in the mundane, an unshakeable faith in the daily grind towards long-term glory – has helped to offer a composed hand at the head of the Larne journey despite the backdrop of outside noise.

For Lynch, it has been about quiet evolution over revolution.

“It's still a little bit surreal at the moment but everything over the last six years is coming flooding back; the work and time and commitment that has been put in,” said Lynch. “The boys will take all the credit, and rightly so, but there were a lot of foundations laid down over the last six years off the field as well and that gave us the platform to do what we're doing on the field.

“There was never really any timeframe put on it...Kenny's the one person who put his money where his mouth was, he deserves a huge amount of credit for what we have done."

Larne’s climb has featured an early model of Championship winners with a playing style designed to entertain en route to glory before hard lessons on the main stage leading to this season’s version of a Premiership panel engineered with the less celebrated but more pragmatic mindset of simply finding a way to the finish line.

Across the campaign Lynch has described his current crop as ‘a different animal’ given the key blend of silk and steel – characteristics on show in the aftermath of last month’s Irish Cup semi-final loss to Ballymena when Larne delivered a response by clocking up three consecutive 2-0 post-split league wins over top-six rivals Glentoran, Cliftonville and Crusaders.

“We went into Friday night's game and the last slide from our pre-match presentation was that we just needed to find a way, and it didn't matter what that way looked like,” said Lynch. “I know I bust their chops day in, day out about playing it the right way...but Friday night was not about that, it was about finding a way to get at least a point.

“We didn't play for a point, we played to win the game but the minimum requirement was a point and I thought the players were magnificent.

“You try to (enjoy the title run-in)...but there are always those moments when you're on your own and you probably overthink things.

”You just never knew if we would get there in the end – if you don't get a draw, what happens? The nerves can really kick in but this group of players is phenomenal.

“We let ourselves down in the Irish Cup semi-final and I think after we watched that game back two or three times the next day it was very, very clear what happened.

“It was very clear and we went and put that right...if somebody had asked me to put my mortgage on the Glentoran result, I would have because that week in training there was 'Eye Of The Tiger' stuff, literally banging doors to get out on the pitch.

“And that's the mark of them.”