Connolly set for director role after guiding Derry to FAI Cup success

Mark Connolly is due to return to his director of football role at Derry City after guiding the club to FAI Cup success as interim manager. BBC Sport NI reported that the search for a permanent manager continues following Sunday's victory over Waterford.

Watch the highlights:

The 34-year-old took over in August after Tiernan Lynch's departure, with Derry struggling for results. He helped them finish fifth in the league before the cup win secured European football for next season. Connolly had been an unused substitute in Coleraine's Irish Cup triumph only six months earlier.

Derry beat Waterford 1-0 at the Aviva Stadium, where the Football Association of Ireland recorded an attendance of 36,093. The sides were level at half-time before Darragh Burns supplied the decisive goal in the 70th minute. The FAI's match report described Derry resisting late pressure to preserve their advantage and take the trophy back to the Brandywell.

RTÉ reported that Burns drove at the Waterford defence, changed direction and struck into the right corner. The victory brought Derry their seventh FAI Cup since joining the League of Ireland in 1985. For Waterford, defeat extended a wait for another cup triumph that had already lasted 46 years.

Waterford still had opportunities to respond. According to RTÉ's match report, Noah Mawene sent an effort wide from distance and Tommy Lonergan headed outside the post. Appeals for penalties involving Mawene in added time were unsuccessful, leaving Burns' second-half strike as the only goal of the final.

Connolly told BBC Sport NI that rebuilding the connection between the team and supporters had been a major source of satisfaction. He said the relationship was improving but acknowledged that work remained. He also cautioned against treating a cup triumph as a guarantee of league success next year.

His own longer-term coaching future remains uncertain. Connolly told the BBC he was unsure whether he would take another managerial job and expected conversations during the week. He highlighted the demands of managing and credited the staff behind him for their work during his interim spell.