Did L get enough credit from Near?

Been some time since I watched the anime, but from what I recall, Near was bit of a boaster about how he and M solved this case on their own and surpassed L. Isn't that somewhat discrediting towards L who put in so much effort into the case? It was basically his work on which Near and M build their case, L laid the foundation for some of the facts from which Near had to work. So in a sense, wouldn't you say that most of this had been L's plan all along after he realized what had to be done? I honestly think L was smarter than N and M put together.

It felt like Near was hit with one helpful hint after another, perhaps the series had to come to an end and they had to resort to this by making Light take his guard down.

Not saying I don't like Near, I liked the way it ended. However, it would have been much better to have had Near admit that L had tremendous influence in bringing Light to justice and that Near was continuing L's work. Not that L was defeated. Dying alone doesn't mean your defeated, since N worked from info left behind thanks to L, it means L had just as much stake in victory as anyone else.