Dundalk's exit from the Europa League finally brings to an end one of the most remarkable club campaigns in the history of the League of Ireland and by far the most rewarding.

They may not have played as many games as Shamrock Rovers did in 2011 but they ultimately eclipsed the Dublin club's achievements that season thanks to the brand of football they aspired to and often delivered as well as the four points they took over the course of the European group stages.

Perhaps most significantly, though, they earned more than five times as much prize money, around €7 million, as Michael O’Neill’s side did.

While much will be accounted for by travel expenses and paying players, the club will head into 2017 in a position that would have seemed utterly unthinkable when Stephen Kenny arrived at Oriel Park just over four years ago.

Kenny will not like his impact at the club to be measured entirely in pounds, shillings and pence but the 45 year-old will not for one minute underestimate the importance of the money either.

Last night’s defeat highlighted once again how his team’s defence will have to be strengthened if they are to build on this year’s European run.

Last game

In what will most certainly have been his last game for the club, Daryl Horgan did more than enough to highlight how much he will be missed.

But the cold fact is that really poor mistakes by Dundalk defenders led to goals in three of the four games played against Dundalk's rivals for Group D's second qualification spot.

There comes a point when you have to stop talking about costly individual errors and simply conclude that in that department, at least, the Irish champions were collectively not quite good enough to get by at this level.

Though there will be no transfer fees for Horgan or Andy Boyle when they go, and little enough for Michael O'Connor (who has been linked with Sheffield United) or Pat McEleney should his obvious ability generate firm interest from England, the club is in a strong position to fill any gaps.

Players are likely to be drawn from across the league here by the promise of domestic success and the possibility of making more history abroad.

Having already assembled much of the squad for 2017 – and kept most of the club’s best players – it remains to be seen whether Kenny himself might actually be tempted away.

Michael O’Neill feels sure there will be offers and suggested on Wednesday that the Dubliner probably needs to accept one now if he is to capitalise career-wise on what he has achieved over the last few seasons.

Staying is certainly a risk for his stock may not remain this high for long. But there is still a sneaking suspicion that having apparently wrapped up the signing of Sean Hoare and persisted with his interest in Dylan Connolly, the 45 -year-old wants to give it all at least one more go.

Champions League

On the domestic front it is hard to imagine what he might think he has left to prove although clearly there is always another league title to be won with one more enough to equal the achievements of the fine Shamrock Rovers team of the 80s to which his side is still sometimes compared.

Kenny's inclination in conversation, though, to return to the subject of his side's failure to qualify for the Champions League suggests that that is where his real ambition lies.

The regularity with which he references that two-legged defeat by Legia in the final round of qualifying this summer suggests that becoming the first manager to take a team to the business end of the competition is the last great box to be ticked before he moves on and perhaps loses the opportunity to set such lofty targets.

In truth, there was a bit of a gap between the Poles and their Irish opponents over the course of those two games and yet Kenny and his men still came away with justifiable cause for complaint about the way they had been beaten.

Some of Legia’s subsequent results in the group stages – and Dundalk’s defending in the Europa League – suggested his side had actually dodged a bullet by having been eliminated. But the Dubliner would never agree; he would always want to be out there, with his players, firmly in the firing line.