St Patrick's Athletic boss John McDonnell says he will leave the fate of suspended midfielder Gary Dempsey in the hands of the club's board.

After days of making the airwaves and making headlines for all the wrong reasons, St Pats got back on the football field last night, earning a 2-1 win over Derry City which cemented second place in the league for the Saints, on a night when Keith Fahey played his last game in front of the home fans at Richmond Park before his imminent move to the UK.

Some tried to focus on the football but the pre-match chatter around Emmet Road centred on the betting story which has brought such unwanted attention on the club in the last week, and the fact that midfielder Dempsey was nowhere in sight at Richmond Park, but was still talked about, underlined that the story has not yet gone away. A club investigation is still ongoing, but Pats boss McDonnell is confident that no other players will be discovered and connected with betting misdemeanours.

"I'm happy there's no one else involved. Gary Dempsey is a bit unfortunate. He's not a bad lad, he has done great for me this season," said McDonnell after the win over Derry, which was inspired by captain Fahey.

"It has to take its course now, between (our) internal investigation and the FAI. We did our job right, the club pursued and did its job right.

"It's an executive decision. The people at the club and the FAI have to look at it. He's a good lad, I have to say, I don't think he's been involved in any stuff like this before. It's unfortunate, but these things happen and you have to take due course. We have to go through procedures.

"We've no history with Gary, he's done very well for me this season. I have to say, it's a difficult situation for everybody."

Just like the 2008 season, last night's game at Richmond Park was watched by only a few and is best forgotten. Pats, incredibly playing at home for the fifth game in a row, took the lead six minutes before the break when the Derry defence, perhaps with their minds on a Cup final appearance on Sunday week, stood back and allowed the midfielder to move into the box and beat keeper Ger Doherty.

Five minutes from the end, Fahey was again the focus for St Pats as he was taken down in the box by Mark McCrystal and when referee Richie Winter pointed to the spot, Fahey thought about taking the kick, but it went instead to striker Mark Quigley. He blasted past Doherty from the penalty spot and thus joined Dave Mooney -- who left Cork City and the league way back in August -- as joint top scorer in the league with 15 goals.

Brighton boss Micky Adams had come to Dublin to see Derry striker Mark Farren and he came off the bench to nick an injury-time goal for City but the points, and second place in the league, went to Pats.

After the final whistle the Pats players and their manager made a brief lap of honour before the hardy few at Richmond Park -- Fahey saying his goodbyes as it will be a miracle if the 25-year-old, clearly the best player on the park last night, will be at the club or even in the league next season.

"Keith has done it all season, he has played in most of the matches for us and his fitness levels, his desire are fantastic. He led by example again last night and did his stuff on the pitch, scored the first goal and won the penalty for the second one. He will be difficult to replace as not too many players in the league have Keith's quality. If he goes it will be with our blessing, but it has to be the right move for Keith," added McDonnell.

"It was a hard few days but when we had two games in quick succession we could focus on what we wanted to do over the two games. It was important that we had something to play for. We were playing for second place and the focus was on that for the last few days. We have got past the 60-point mark -- we're on 63 now -- and if we can get to 66, that wouldn't be far away from winning the league normally.

"It's been a tough season, very difficult for us. We had a lot of stuff off the field all season, we lost Liam O'Brien at the start of the season, Brian Kerr went, the CEO went, we had the trouble with Michael Keane's situation, Trevor Croly went and then we had this (betting) situation, so we had a lot of off-pitch stuff to deal with, but I think we came out of it well. We finished second in the league, got to the Cup semi-final and had the European run, so overall it was a very positive season. I was delighted with the work we did and the players we've had.

"I will be glad when the season is over, it's been difficult, with the amount of games we had. We're finished next Friday and I am looking forward to the holidays," he added.

- Aidan Fitzmaurice