Derry City's thrilling Euro win over KuPS gives Ruaidhri Higgins flashbacks to Gothenburg 17 years on!

Fittingly the 2-1 first leg win took place on the 17th anniversary of one of his favourite ever nights as a player and he likened the riotous atmosphere on Thursday night to the night Derry clinched a UEFA Cup first round victory over Swedish giants Gothenburg in 2006.

That win sparked an unforgettable European journey which culminated in a third round qualifying loss to PSG in the Parc des Princes after holding the French to a 0-0 draw at Brandywell.

Seventeen years on and Derry have yet to reach a third round qualifying round again but now, with Higgins at the helm, the Candy Stripes are potentially 90 minutes from matching that feat!

They go into the second leg in Finland with a goal advantage but more importantly with a belief now they have one foot in the next round after an enthralling second half performance which ultimately should've put the tie to bed.

"It's an absolutely brilliant win," beamed Higgins afterwards. "It's a special Brandywell night. The noise at the end reminded me so much of Gothenburg back in '06.

"Kevin Deery (his former City teammate and current Institute manager) reminded me of that before the game on the side of the pitch that it's been 17 years today. I didn't know that because I'm not on social media, thank God," he laughed.

"Special times and I've gotten a wee bit older looking since those days.

"I've often said medals and memories are all you have after you pack it in. Some of the most memorable nights I ever had in a Derry City shirt were in Europe and tonight as manager it's very, very special.

"All the credit goes to our players and our supporters who absolutely blew the roof off, particularly in the second half. "They sucked the ball into their net and we want to thank them tonight for the contribution they made.

"The players feed off the energy of supporters. It's a two-way street. It's our job to get them up but when they get up the players really feed off that as well. Since I've been here it's one of the most memorable nights I can remember in terms of noise and really driving the team over the line."

It's job well done but not yet mission completed and Higgins was quick to urge caution against a team which will be highly dangerous on their home turf in Kuopio next week.

Should Derry progress past KuPS they would bring their prize money to a staggering €850,000 and set up a third round meeting with, most probably, Tobol Kostana of Kazakhstan who stunned nine man FC Basel with a 3-1 victory in Switzerland in the first leg.

Higgins won't let his players get carried away despite the emotion from what was a brilliant night played in a cauldron of noise on Foyleside.

"Again, it's really important not to get carried away. It's half-time."