Banbury Bulls may be one win away from the Oxfordshire Cup final, but they are not yet safe from relegation in the league.

That is the view of player-coach Grant Holmes (below), whose side have had an indifferent campaign in Midlands 3 East South.

But having played so well in their 43-11 quarter-final victory over Chinnor 2nd, Holmes hopes they can finish the season on a high.

He said: “What we must ensure we do now is maintain this level of performance, particularly in the league, where a very poor run of form either side of Christmas means we still need to win games to ensure our position in Midlands 3 for next season.

“Without doubt Saturday’s game was the best we have played for two seasons.

“The continuity in our play was fantastic with the forwards and backs combining well to move the ball at pace.

“But it wasn’t just a free for all, pass-the-ball-about at will game.

“First we had to win the contact area, and we did that well, which gave us the platform that is required to play running rugby on the front foot.”

“We finally produced a standard of rugby we all know we are capable of playing.

“Rugby is a confidence game and sometimes we are guilty of lacking in that department and letting our heads drop if things don’t go our way.”

Banbury have not helped themselves at times this season, and were deducted four points in November for fielding an ineligible player.

But Holmes hopes the previous Saturday’s 20-17 league win at Old Newtonians will now prove the turning point.

He said: “Last week’s final-minute win was a big confidence boost, particularly as we had to field an under-strength forward pack.

“But the lads that came into the side stepped their game up and showed they are more than capable of doing the job at this level.

“Our style has always been to put width into our game.

“However we often get sucked into a dog fight up front, particularly if things don’t go our way early on.”

He added: “We have also been guilty of not playing out our games.

“Typically this year we have had two or three games where we have been well ahead at half-time only to go off the boil and let the opposition back in.

“Against Chinnor, however, we played beyond 70 minutes for the first time, with perhaps a few minutes where we lost our way by giving away far too many penalties.”