Goals from Damon Ming and Tomiko Goater earned Dandy Town Hornets a 2-0 victory over Somerset Trojans to win the Premier Division title with two games to spare.

There was a slightly anticlimactic feel to Hornets’ triumph, hardly surprising given their dominance this season, with the team’s title prospects being a matter of “when not if”.

Jomar Wilkinson’s side are nine points clear of nearest rivals Robin Hood, who drew at home to Boulevard on Saturday night, and have lost just twice all season.

And although it was not the most eye-catching performance by his side during their thoroughly dominant campaign, Wilkinson praised his players for getting the job done against a poor Trojans side.

“We understood we only needed a point and it was all about making sure we were sound defensively,” he said.

“We started slow and at half-time I had to lay into the boys and you definitely saw a response from them in the second half.

“We wanted to win the trophy at home and it was great to share that with our supporters.”

It was an insipid first half with neither team producing much in the way of free-flowing football. Jaden Ratteray-Smith went the closest for Trojans, last season’s champions, with a dipping effort from long-range.

At the other end, Lynn Tucker forced a flying save from Shaquille Bean, the Trojans goalkeeper, with a powerful strike from distance.

The home side arguably shaded the first period, although there was very little to choose between the two teams, with Angelo Simmons, the Town captain, going close with a header from a Tomiko Goater cross while Trojan’s Jonny Bean shot straight at Mikkail Crockwell, the Hornets goalkeeper.

Hornets improved after the break and opened the scoring through Damon Ming whose finished neatly with a left-foot strike in the 73rd minute.

The home side then doubled their advantage in the 85th minute when Goater continued his impressive form in front of goal with a close-range finish from Simmons’s low cross from the left.

Wilkinson, who celebrated his third league title as Town coach, said he believed there was plenty more to come from his players.

“It’s very encouraging to have such a young team,” he said. “If we can keep the group together I believe we can achieve plenty more.

“We definitely haven’t reached our limit and these players can play a lot better.

“We’re hoping to keep the group together and grow together as a team.”

TEAMS

Dandy Town (4-3-3): M Crockwell — L Millet, S Darrell, T Daniels, A Lowe — D Ming, D Bascome, L Tucker (sub: K Davis, 70min)— Q Maynard — A Simmons, T Goater. Substitutes not used: D Williams, K Tucker, E Blankendal, R Tucker, K Lathan, D Butterfield. Booked: Tucker.

Somerset Trojans (3-5-2): S Bean — D Benjamin, T Ming, A Lambert — L Burgess, F Crockwell, J Ratteray-Smith, A Trott, J Gooden — T Wade, J Bean. Substitutes not used: V Blanchette, T Brown, R Ford II, A Seaman, J Rogers, D Swan.

Referee: E Holmes.