concentrate on coaching at the junior level.

But he insisted the decision to relinquish his post had nothing to do with Sunday's loss to Devonshire Colts, claiming he made up his mind earlier in the season.

"The decision for me had been made after we won the Martonmere Cup,'' said Trott yesterday. "As the year went on and on it just confirmed for me that I was going to make that decision.

"I enjoyed it but like with all things, it is best to leave things when they are already in a good state.'' Trott, who has had some success at the international youth level, sees coaching at the junior level, domestically or nationally, as the challenge he is seeking.

He is proud of his record at Dandy Town, which includes leading the side to the league, Dudley Eve and Friendship trophies in his first season after taking over from Robert Calderon. The FA Cup, which they lost to Vasco that year (1993-94), is the one trophy that has eluded him.

"I'm disappointed I didn't win it with Dandy Town but at the end of the day if I decide to go back into senior coaching with Dandy Town or anybody else the opportunity will still be there to win it,'' said Trott.

"In my five years at St. John's as the head coach our worst position in the league was third. The first year we were league champions, the following year we were tied with (champions) Boulevard but lost out on goal difference. We were second twice and the year before that we were third, so I can't complain at all.

"When you leave a programme consistently performing at that level in the league then you feel good that whoever steps in is stepping into a good situation. It also allows them a little bit of a latitude to change things if they want to change them.'' Trott received his baptism in the 1992-93 season when, after serving as Robert Calderon's assistant, he replaced Calderon halfway through the campaign.

The following year he earned his stripes as a senior coach by leading the team to three trophies and winning the Coach of the Year award. Vasco denied Town the triple crown of league, FA and Friendship by beating them in the '94 FA final.

"Every time we were in the final we had a team quite capable of winning the match,'' said Trott. "But as you see in knockout games anything can happen.

Quite often on the day it's the team that wants it a little more.'' For that reason Trott accepts that Devonshire Colts deserved to be winners last Sunday.

"We were unfortunate because we missed chances but you can't blame Colts for scoring the chance that was presented to them,'' added the coach.

"What I was proud of with the Dandy Town players was that they fought for 90 minutes and not one guy dropped his head during the 90 minutes. At the end of the day the guys are very disappointed but they can also hold their heads high.'' Trott admitted that, considering the talent at Dandy Town, winning the Martonmere and finishing second in the league represented an under-achievement for his team.

"At crucial times we had serious injury problems and the junior players and Alliance Division players who stepped in were the reason why we were able to maintain our momentum,'' he said.

"With that the club is in really good hands because they are steeped in talent. There are some youngsters coming through who are going to be really special.'' Some members of the Town team originally hail from other clubs, players like Dano Outerbridge and McLee Smith who could be heading back to PHC next season, Dean Bailey (St. George's) and Reggie Tucker (Somerset). It remains to be seen whether they will stay under a new coach.

"Dano and Dean, I coached in the under-23s and they progressed to the national team. Hopefully they didn't come to Town just because I asked them to, but you still can't knock a guy if he goes back to his roots.'' Mark Trott: will turn his attention to coaching junior players.