League champions Somerset Trojans continued their celebrations yesterday with a visit to the Cabinet Office to meet Premier Michael Dunkley and Sports Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin.

The Premier, a former footballer himself who spoke of playing against the Trojans in their heyday, congratulated the team on their first league title in 22 years, winning by three points over defending champions Dandy Town.

The Trojans lost only once in the second half of the season, with the key wins coming over Dandy Town in January and Hamilton Parish the next month.

“The Dandy Town game did put us over the hump and let us believe that we could get it done this year,” said technical director Dennis Brown, who rejoined his boyhood club this season having won the Triple Crown of league FA Cup and Friendship Trophy with Devonshire Cougars in 2012-13.

“We were unbeaten in the league up until we played Cougars, seven straight games, but outside of that we showed a level of consistency, good in defence, but a little bit of luck as well because in the St George’s match we were very lucky to hang on for 1-1. We were also a little lucky against PHC [a goalless draw], but luck goes with the champions sometimes.

Brown, who played in Somerset’s last league winning season, admits this campaign was probably the most unpredictable he has seen, with no team running away with the league title and Dandy Town almost retaining their crown despite a slow start to the campaign when they lost three of their first four matches.

“I was just telling someone this morning that this is probably the strangest season I’ve seen, whether it be for relegation or the league title,” Brown said. “Nobody really knew who was going to win the league or who was going to go down, right down to the last game so that was good for the spectators but a little stressful for the coaches.

“I’m really happy for the community; we really needed this. I saw the look on the faces of a lot of the Somerset spectators — pure elation. We just need to stay humble, work hard and try to do it again.”

His nephew, Danvers Seymour Jr, quietly went about his job as coach this season and in the end brought the coveted league title back to the club.

“Every game was important to win or better off not losing, rather than going into every game thinking that we’re going to be the dominant team,” Seymour said.

“We always felt that we could win it, but it was about consistency. We felt it was in our own hands.

“I don’t want to single out one particular player; everybody played their part, whether they played one game of hadn’t even played. It was about the depth in the team and the depth goes from the Premier team right to the PDL [Player Development League] team.

“If we had 40 players involved in the programme this year then all 40 players played their part and that’s what we stressed. What about the goalkeeper who played only one game but made a critical save in order for us to get three points? It’s a team, a community and it’s united, and that’s what it is about.”

The Trojans can expect to face a tough challenge trying to repeat as champions next season, something that no team has done in the league since North Village in 2002 and 2003 with back-to-back titles.

“Definitely the hardest part is repeating,” Seymour said. “I tell the team all the time, it was easier beating teams when you were the underdog because teams were taking us for granted, but now when teams can’t take us for granted that it has become more of a challenge for us.

“I rarely speak to the paper because I would rather the action speak louder than the words, but now that the job is done we can talk about it.” Veteran midfielder Vashun Blanchette is enjoying being a part of a championship-winning team. “It’s a very good feeling, not only for the players but the community as a whole,” he said. “You feel a different energy in and around Somerset right now and after 22 years, it is a euphoric feeling just walking around Somerset.

“We always knew what it meant because we were reminded what Somerset was prior to this season. To feel it now and the warmth in the community is very heartening.

“We’re definitely enjoying the moment but I guess it will be a different sort of pressure next year. We just want to enjoy this moment for a little while and when the time comes get back to the drawing board and try to move forward as a team.”

Years from now Trevin Ming will be remembered as the man who captained the team in their title-winning season in 2014-15. “I’m feeling good,” the defender said. “It was so tight in the league that almost everybody was a contender, so every game was so important.

“The Dandy Town win definitely gave us a spark because they won the league last year and got a bunch of trophies so any team would have been happy to beat them. We’ve been together for a long time and we just put it all together and made it happen. Next year we will have the target on our chests but we will have to work just as hard because we’re the champions.”