Flanagan’s Onions 1

Dandy Town 5

Dandy Town Hornets were never likely to surrender their Premier Division title without a putting up a fight.

Trailing Somerset Trojans by three points before last night’s game against Flanagan’s Onions, and with an inferior goal difference, Hornets did everything they possibly could to ensure the trophy remained at St John’s Field,

Ultimately, however, they were left ruing their poor start to the season, picking up just one point from the first five games, leaving them with a deficit that they could never quite recover from.

For Onions, the defeat meant they will return to the First Division after three seasons in the top flight.

Mick Ward’s side required a win to stand any chance of staying up, but were ruthlessly undone by the visiting side during a rampant first-half display at Goose Gosling Field.

Dennis Zuill, the Hornets assistant coach, hailed his side’s first-half display as the best they have played all season.

“The first half was fantastic,” Zuill said. “We were never going to give up our league title just like that. We knew we had to go and get a few goals and I was pleased with how we created them.

“The first five games were the key for us. We got just one point and that was disappointing.”

Hornets will now turn their attention to the FA Cup final on April 12 when they face an Onions side who must pick themselves up from relegation.

“There were positives to take from the game, particularly the second half,” Ward said.

“The first half we didn’t look like we deserved to be in the division. The second we improved and we looked a lot better.

“That’s kind of how the season has been for us.”

Hornets stormed to a four-goal lead by the half-hour mark with braces from Angelo Simmons and Temiko Wilson.

They added another before the interval with Clay Darrell driving a shot into the far corner past Stephen Gould, the Onions goalkeeper, who reeled off several fine saves to limit the carnage.

Onions improved after the break as Town, perhaps aware of the Trojans’ two-goal lead against Southampton Rangers, appeared to take their foot off the gas.

Onions managed to get on the score sheet through a Markez Laws header, not that it really mattered by then.

Despite their hefty win, Zuill dismissed any notion of his side having a psychological advantage against Onions in next weekend’s FA final.

“Cup games are funny,” he said. “We threw down the gauntlet to them, but Onions never give up and I take my hat off to them.”