OUTGOING Banbury Bulls head coach Grant Holmes says they must learn lessons if they are to avoid being a yo-yo club.

Holmes officially stepped down on Saturday after Banbury’s final match of a season, which saw them relegated from Midlands 1 West.

Having led Banbury to the Midlands 2 East South title 12 months before, Holmes was hopeful they would be able to compete in the league above.

“I felt that this season would see us work hard to maintain Midlands 1 rugby, having learnt a lot from our first attempt in 2007-08,” said Holmes.

“But we made some similar mistakes and I believe we really missed a great opportunity this year.

“Hopefully, under the guidance of a new head coach, the club will be able to take that final, rather large, step and move back up and next time cement their place playing level six rugby.”

Holmes added: “I have no doubt that we have the players to do it, but they need to realise how much hard work is required.

“We can ill afford to sit back and bask in the glory of a league victory and expect to just turn up a couple of weeks before the new season starts and compete at a higher level.”

Holmes stepped down for work and family reasons, but said he enjoyed his fours years at the helm.

He said: “It has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride, but regardless of our position I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will take away a lot of fond memories from it all.

“Obviously the greatest highlight in that time was winning the Midlands 2 East South league in 2009-10.

“We played some fantastic rugby and in losing just two games all year showed the kind of consistency that it takes to win such titles.”

Banbury hope to recruit a replacement for Holmes by the end of April.

  • I WILL be revealing my Oxford Mail team of the season in next Thursday’s Scrum Down, so don’t forget to buy your copy.

All players have been judged against the level they compete at, so there will be a fair spread of Oxfordshire clubs represented.