After a 14-year hiatus, Somerset Eagles are back in soccer's top flight.

The west enders' 4-2 victory over Paget on Sunday coupled with the defeat of rivals Hamilton Parish by already-promoted Boulevard means that Eagles will join the Blazers in the Premier Division next season, replacing St. George's and Wolves who will both be relegated.

For Eagles skipper Musceo Hunt - the son of former club coach Larry (Muscles) Hunt - it's been a long but rewarding season.

"First of all I would like to give the blessings to the Father for giving us the opportunity to come together in unity and sacrifice," said Hunt after Sunday's triumph. "I think that He helped us to get even closer to our goal which we finally achieved today."

After brushing aside all before them except Boulevard to remain undefeated at the half-way stage of the season, the new year seemed to usher in a period of uncertainty for the Somerset side.

They suffered a 1-0 away loss to St. David's and had to settle for just a point the following weekend against Ireland Rangers. Prospect also added insult to injury with a shock 1-0 home win over their guests.

"I think that the losses that we did suffer all came at a time when changes were made to our team," said Hunt. "For instance, against St.David's we played 4-3-3 and that was the first time that we had ever played that formation as a team and some of the players weren't comfortable.

"And against Prospect we had a couple of players who sat on the bench who should have been on the team. I don't know what happened with that situation but the players were definitely not happy."

Hunt said he felt players were often too concerned about changes being made to the team rather than getting on with the job at hand.

"There were times when I felt that we broke down because we were worrying too much about the situation than trying to make the best out of it," he added. "I think that we focused far too much on being unhappy than trying to get the job completed."

However, Eagles showed character to oust premier Division Wolves in the FA Cup quarter-finals before falling to North Village at the next hurdle.

"Technically, I wouldn't say that it was a great match (against Village)," said Hunt. "But as far as entertainment for the fans was concerned, I think that people definitely got their money's worth. We were just a bit unfortunate that we didn't capitalise on the amount of pressure that we applied, especially in the second half when we had the momentum and Village weren't getting too many chances.

"The guys were determined to get back and put added pressure on Village and I think in the end we managed to take them out of their comfort zone. I don't think that they were prepared for what we brought to that game."

With promotion assured, Eagles can now focus their attention on the defence of the Shield title. They play Paget tonight for the right to face Boulevard in the final.

"We haven't beaten Boulevard this season and by the looks of things, they should remain undefeated in the league. But personally I enjoy playing against them. They are good opposition and they have a good junior programme - something that we ourselves are now looking to implement at Bridge," said Hunt.

"It's always a challenge against them and I would like to see us beat them once this season, so I'm definitely looking forward to another shot against them."

Looking ahead to next season, the 31 year-old former Somerset Trojan said he hoped he would see his side adopt a more professional approach to the game.

"I think that by now our players know just what it is going to take for us to compete at that level - fitness, sacrifice, willingness and taking training a little bit more seriously," he added. "I have the opportunity to show them (the youngsters) from my experience how to further develop their skills and, overall, how the game should be played."