Southend coach Kevin Harman has heaped praise on his championship-winning side after they clinched the National League Three South title on Saturday by demolising Dings Crusaders.

The Seasiders comfortably saw off their Bristol-based opponents 76-15 at a jam-packed Warners Bridge.

And the comprehensive victory was enough to ensure Southend finished a point clear of their closest challengers Westcombe Park, much to the delight of Harman.

"It's a fantastic achievement and I'm very proud of my players," he said.

"We went out and played exactly the way I knew we were going to. We were aggressive right from the start and played some superb rugby which was great to see in what was a championship decider."

Harman's troops never looked like being trouble at the weekend, with both Chris Green and Faapulou Soolefai running home hat-tricks.

That gave the 2,000 watching supporters plenty to cheer about as Southend made sure of their place in National League Two for the first time ever.

"It's brilliant for us and it's brilliant for the whole county," said Harman.

"We sat down at the start of the year to plan a few things and we gave ourselves two years to get our of this league.

"It took us just one in the end though and we're certainly ahead of schedule.

"Now we want to carry on making things bigger and better here.

"The next step is to try and make sure we stay in National League Two - which is the highest any Essex side have ever been."

Harman's team will now be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Redruth and Blackheath.

And the Seasiders coach believes they have earned the opportunity to impress at the higher level.

"After 26 games you're not top of the table because of luck," he said.

"We are there because we are the best team in the league and we've shown that."

The fantastic form of Western Samoan star Soolefai has also played a huge part in Southend's success.

But, despite the centre scoring 31 tries - more than anyone else in National League Three South - Harman was quick to point out that all of his players had made vital contributions.

"Hats Faapulou Soolefai has been a big, big reason for us winning the league," said Harman.

"However every single player - including some in the second team - have done their bit as well and it has been a real team effort.

"It's been fantastic and is certainly something for us to build on because we want to really work on us becoming a real community club."