Kidderminster Carolians RFC have begun the search for a new head coach after Dave Irish announced he is to leave the club.

Irish informed the Marlpool Lane based club that he was unable to continue with his duties because of increasing pressure from work.

He will stay on in charge of the team until a new man is available to takeover in the KCs hot-seat.

Irish joined the club from Ludlow in the summer of 2007 but feels that he was unable to continue juggling his role at KCs with his new job as assistant headteacher at Worcester’s Tudor Grange Academy.

His time in charge at the club saw them challenging for top four places over the last two seasons.

However, they were hampered by a run of serious injuries which resulted in captain Ben Turner taking a break from the sport to recover from knee ligament damage.

“I don’t feel that I am able to give my all to the club because of work commitments,” commented Irish.

“Even though Kidderminster Carolians are a family club they have ambitions to be the best junior club in the area.

“I let the club know about my position and they have been very supportive and I am also involved with the finding of a new coach.

“It’s an exciting time for the club as well because they will have a new man in.

“The players have been informed as well and it’s important that the club brings in a replacement as soon as possible, because while I will be here until the hand over it will be a distraction for the players until it is completed.

“We don’t want any split loyalties, naturally they will be thinking about the new man and also be working with me.

“I think I have added solidity to the club since I joined. They had gone through two coaches very quickly and I was able to reinvigorate some players.

“We finished fourth in my first season and my only regret was we had so many injuries after which hampered our efforts.”

Despite his departure, Irish is confident that KCs can have a fine second half of the season in the Midlands Division Two West (South).

They are currently in the bottom half of the table but are only four points off fourth placed Old Laurentians, who they are set t o visit away on Saturday. However, the game could be in doubt if the expected cold snap hits the Midlands this week.

Irish said: “The feeling is very positive around the club, we are fourth from bottom but are only three points behind the fourth-placed team.

“We’ve beaten Droitwich, who are second in the table and came very close to beating leaders Worcester, who needed a few late tries to see us off.

“But it’s clear that any team can beat any other in this division so the team has real belief of success.”

KCs are aiming to bring in a coach in the next few weeks, although chairman Brian Garrett admitted that they were mulling over a short or long-term replacement.

He said: “Whoever comes in has some big shoes to fill and if we could have another Dave we would.

“We’ve been very pleased with the response, from a coaching qualification view the standard of applicants has been very high.

“Ideally, we’d like to have the next coach come in for three years but we’re also flexible and if we have to bring someone in until the end of the season then so be it.”