TAUNTON Town manager Leigh Robinson praised his side's character to come back from the disappointment of missing out on promotion, as they defeated Weston-super-Mare 4-2 in the Somerset Premier Cup final.

Two headed goals from centre-back Owen Irish put the Peacocks two up inside the first 20 minutes, and Matt Buse also grabbed a brace to make it 4-0 at half time.

On Irish, Robinson said: "He's been a bit unlucky because he was obviously knocking them in for fun earlier in the season and then just in the last month nothing in the box has really fallen for him - at North Leigh he had one that hit the defender in the face.

"But it was good timing to nick a couple tonight."

Weston went gung-ho after the interval, putting the Peacocks defence under pressure and pulling a couple back, but the Town boss was happy with how his rearguard coped against their National League South opponents.

He said: "We had young Tom Stone playing in the back three, who's been magnificent in this competition, and in the second half I though him, Matt Villis and Owen [Irish] did great.

"Weston had nothing to lose and threw everything at us, and the likelihood was that they'd nick a goal, especially with us tiring, but I thought we saw it out comfortably enough."

Having been beaten by Tiverton Town in the playoff semi-finals last week, Taunton could well have let their heads drop tonight, but the performance was excellent - especially as they were missing key attacking players Ross Staley, Craig Duff, Jordan Rogers and Craig Veal.

"First half we were phenomenal in terms of the energy we showed after such a long season," said Robinson.

"We only had one striker available so had to adapt the formation a little bit, which worked well in the first half, and we adapted to a pretty difficult pitch to play on.

"That first half was probably as good as we've played for a while now."

Those four goals in the first half gave them the silverware, which may not have been quite as sweet as promotion, but did conclude the season on a high note.

"It's a bonus," the manager added.

"We didn't want the season to end on the disappointment we had last Wednesday, so it was good to come out, win a trophy and give the supporters something to cheer.

"It's maybe not what we wanted a month or so ago, but it's nice to finish like this."

And a well deserved rest for everyone at the club?

"Absolutely. If you'd said back in August that we'd get to the FA Cup first round, reach the playoffs and win the Somerset Premier Cup, anyone at the club would've snatched your hand off for that.

"It's been a long, long season - 60-odd games, which is pretty unheard of for this club or at this level - but unquestionably an enjoyable one and a memorable one for all of us at the club."