this season's laurels and sail triumphantly through next season in the First Division, then they can think again.

Coach Gary Darrell not only sounded such a warning to his players during their week of celebration, but insisted they must shift into a higher gear and improve their game all around if they are to survive local soccer's top flight.

"It's been a most encouraging season for us, but I have to impress on the players that they are going to have to work harder at improving,'' said Darrell. "We are going to need a little more commitment than we had from them this season because the Second Division hasn't been that challenging.

"In the First Division we are going to have to really battle just to remain there and it's going to take a lot of work on their part over the summer and during post season games to prepare for this higher level.'' Having sealed promotion last Sunday with a 6-0 thrashing of Paget, Southampton hold down first place by a comfortable margin. They are uncatchable having attained the maximum 24 points from 12 games while their closest challengers Somerset Eagles trail with 16 points from 13 matches.

Darrell says he's proud to have helped Rangers regain their First Division status after joining them late last season when he failed in a desperate attempt to stave off relegation.

This season marked his first as full-time coach since taking Bermuda to the first round of qualifying in the World Cup just over two years ago.

The troubled Rangers lost some key players after last season, but under Darrell and with help from assistant coach John Tucker they have impressed their supporters.

"At the beginning of the season I read somewhere that Southampton were one of the favourites to be promoted. But I really didn't share that view at the time because we had lost some key players and actually we were essentially doing a rebuilding thing of sorts,'' said Darrell.

"I didn't know what was going to happen, it was anybody's guess. But as the season progressed it worked out okay and basically it's been done by the guys who have had virtually limited First Division experience.'' Southampton were rocked when quality players such as goalkeeper Randy Darrell, Shawn Simons, Ascento Russell and Donnie Charles all left the club last year.

But their absence didn't prove a major factor in their bid for an immediate return to the First Division.

"Fortunately Olin Jones came back after missing a couple of seasons. He and Pernell Brangman were about the only proven First Division players that we had,'' noted the coach.

Brangman, who was to take over the captaincy, and young striker Alfred Wolffe provided the bright spots, according to Darrell. Both achieved more than was expected of them.

Brangman, said Darrell, always had "potential'' and has been by far the team's most consistent player.

"He has had to take the responsibility of being captain and has handled it very well. In addition to the captaincy, he has had to adjust to various positions after starting the season off in midfield and shifting to sweeper.

"Wolffe has scored a lot of goals for us. When he joined us last season he promised that he would get lots of goals but never really got around to getting them. But we reminded him of his prediction in a joking manner at the start of this season and he has settled down, set goals for himself and has done well to achieve what he has.'' In goal the position has been shared by three players this season -- starting with Garry Williams, then Derron Burchall and during the last three games, Bernie Woods.

"It's been an interesting season, but next season will be a most challenging one. While I expect the nucleus of the team will include many of the present players, I also expect some of our former players to rejoin us,'' said Darrell.

"But the important thing is that our players are going to have to realise that the effort they put in this year is not going to be good enough to make them contenders in the First Division. They have to lift their performances, there is no doubt about it.'' Gary Darrell