THE BREAK IS OVER AS BRAKES GO BACK UP...

PAUL Holleran says Leamington are relishing another crack at National League football after enjoying a “gap year” at Step 3.

- CHRIS DUNLAVY

Six years of struggle in National League North came to an end last April when a 5-1 thrashing at AFC Fylde saw the Brakes relegated to Southern Premier Central with two games to spare.

But after surging into the play-offs on a four-game unbeaten run and defeating Redditch in the semi-finals, Holleran’s side edged hot favourites AFC Telford 1-0 at a packed New Bucks Head to seal an instant return to the higher level.

“I’ve got mixed feelings about going back up,” admits Holleran, who recently celebrated 700 games at the helm.

“When I think back to last season, we spent a lot of time on the edge of our box. We battled away and battled away and it was all a bit of a grind.

“It’s very difficult as a manager or a coach in that situation because you set your team up the best you can, they play really well and still get beat. That’s just what happens in that league.

“At Step 3, when you do everything right, you do win games. It’s been really nice because we’ve had good runs, got the fans more engaged, there isn’t as much travelling. There are a lot of pluses to this level.

“But when all is said and done, you’d always rather play at Step 2 than Step 3. No question about it. Because for all the difficult times in the National League, we’ve also had some great periods where we’ve had winning runs, developed young players and created memorable moments.