MEN’S, WOMEN’S AND JUNIOR NEWS
MEN:-
LICHFIELD 1st XV 19 BURTON 22 PTS (STAFFS CUP FINAL)
It was a tremendous advert for rugby, for Staffordshire rugby and, of course, Lichfield rugby and in the second half, in particular, the Lichfield brand of the game was in full and effective show. Off the pitch, Burton put on a very good show for a bumper crowd ….. once more Friday night lights proved very popular. Many thanks to Martyn Gabbitass for the following detailed match report.
On Saturday, which also happens to be Ladies’ Day at the club, the Lichfield senior side will be seeking an eighth consecutive league victory at home to Old Saltleians to confirm their final standing as league winners. Currently, they are four points in front of Dronfield. The first task is to win, the ideal would be to finish the league campaign in style producing the quality of rugby on show for long periods at Burton. Kick off is at 3pm. It is very likely to be a busy occasion, which will include the boys U16s and 14s squads in attendance with the county trophies they have won in recent weeks.
MATCH REPORT:-
In a pulsating game, Lichfield recovered from a big half time deficit to subdue their
opponents, coming up agonisingly short of a famous victory against a team sitting
comfortably in the top four of the League above the Myrtle Greens. Burton had won
the toss to host the Final and such close margins were evident throughout a
momentum changing, hard fought game worthy of any Cup Final .
Burton kicked off in perfect conditions in front of a partisan crowd. In an inauspicious
start, Lichfield knocked on, but won a penalty at the resultant scrum. Throughout
Lichfield’s scrum held firm against a strong Burton pack.
Lichfield dominated territory and possession in the first 15minutes, but couldn’t take
advantage of their dominance as they stretched Burton's defence repeatedly with the
pace and intensity of their play. When Burton threatened, Lichfield defended stoutly,
pressurising their opponents into errors and disrupting their lineout.
In an enthralling game Burton drew first blood on 20 minutes, much against the run
of play. Lichfield defended an initial drive from a Burton line out, but the ball was
quickly recycled wide left, producing an opening for the Burton left wing to go over in
the corner. The difficult conversion was missed.
The score galvanised Burton, but to a man Lichfield’s defence held firm and it took a
moment of brilliance to increase Burton’s lead on 30 minutes. From a lineout on
halfway, Burton’s impressive scrum half spotted a gap. He burst around the back of
the lineout and breached Lichfield’s first line of defence. With no immediate support,
he went on a mazy run, ending with a converted try under the posts, extending the
host’s lead to 12-0.
Lichfield were reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes shortly after the restart with a yellow
card being given for an illegal block on a Burton player following up on a deft kick
over Lichfield’s covering defence.
Burton’s forwards put Lichfield’s defence increasingly to the test, seeking to take
advantage of the extra man. Lichfield showed remarkable resilience, holding Burton
up over the line. However, from the resultant drop out Burton increased their lead.
Collecting the ball on the Lichfield 22, Burton worked the narrow side to go over in
the corner. The conversion was missed.
With half time quickly approaching, Lichfield pressed to reduce the deficit.
Unfortunately, Burton overturned the ball at a ruck, followed by a bullocking run by
their loose head prop, which led to a penalty for the home side. Burton ignored a kick
at goal and chose the lineout option. From the resultant lineout Burton set up a
powerful maul and drove over for another unconverted try putting Burton into a
commanding 22-0 lead at half time. However, would the missed conversions play a
part; could Lichfield convert their chances? How would the second half play out?
The crowd didn’t have long to find out.
Lichfield kicked off and when Burton cleared, they conceded a penalty for taking the
collecting Lichfield player out whilst still off the ground. A quick ‘tap and run’ – a very
productive feature of Lichfield’s second half play, led to ‘Ditch’ Burton running
strongly into the 22. Probing phases saw Ollie Green scything through from full back
and crashing over the line for an unconverted try within the first minute.
Back up to 15 players, Lichfield continued with their fluid style of play, spurning
penalties and opting to run. Unfortunately, during a promising phase inside the
Burton 22, Ollie Green suffered an injury, leading to play being halted with Lichfield
again threatening their opponent’s try line. Green had to leave the field on 47
minutes being replaced by Chad Southam.
This set back did not deter Lichfield, who continued to dominate the early second
half exchanges. They reduced the deficit further on 50 minutes. Not surprisingly, it
followed another quick tap penalty from a scrum inside Burton’s 22. Lichfield moved
the ball left, stretching the Burton defence. Paul Maxwell-Keys, running a brilliant line
at pace, raced over with Kai Lucas-Dumolo adding the conversion to narrow the gap
to 22-12.
It was all Lichfield at this point and the buzz around the ground was now all coming
from the Lichfield supporters who had made the short journey up the A38.
From the resultant kick off, Lichfield continued their brilliant attacking and in this case
counter attacking play. Burton kicked long, but spurning a return kick, Lichfield ran
the ball from inside their 22. Maxwell-Keys, probably enjoying his best season in a
Lichfield shirt, broke through a tackle and ran strongly before kicking ahead into the
opposing 22 and forcing the covering player into touch. The referee reversed the
lineout award and gave a penalty to Burton, who cleared their lines.
Lichfield’s dominance continued against their higher (league) placed opponents, who
were struggling to get into the game. The pressure told as the penalty count against
Burton rose. Lichfield were mostly camped in Burton’s half. From a scrum inside
Burton’s 22, Lichfield called a planned move and the strong running Kieran Higgins
was nearly through, but Burton’s defence held firm, winning a penalty at the
breakdown for not releasing. The clearing penalty kick took play into the Lichfield
half. Possibly a defining moment as play entered the final quarter of a closely
contested game.
Burton took advantage and a searing break from their No. 7 led to Burton being held
up over the line, following determined scrambling defence by Lichfield. Burton
enjoyed a period of territorial advantage, but again Lichfield, showing great
commitment in defence, held their opponents up over the line.
The next score would be crucial to the outcome of the game. Both sides were
probing for a breakthrough, their efforts being disrupted by injuries halting play
unwittingly at promising moments.
The game entered the last 10 minutes and Lichfield were very much in the hunt,
having engineered a remarkable turnaround and showing great character, resilience
and tenacity, not least silencing the Burton support.
Lichfield worked their way into the Burton 22. From a lineout, a series of close
handling drives took them close to Burton’s line. However, whilst Burton won a
turnover, in trying to clear their line they threw a loose pass under pressure from
Lichfield and conceded a 5 metre scrum. Lichfield threw everything at Burton and
following a period of intense phase play Rory Davis forced his way over the line only
to be denied by excellent defence by Burton, who held up Lichfield’s imposing No. 1.
The final two minutes saw both teams attacking. First Lichfield, who lost the ball in
contact, leading to a scrum and subsequent penalty award to Burton. Lichfield kept
Burton at bay from the ensuing lineout and were awarded the scrum when Burton
couldn’t release the ball. Burton were penalised at the scrum. Lichfield ran the
penalty and gained ground before winning another penalty. As they had done
throughout the second half, Lichfield ran the ball from a quick tap. Burton were
stretched and Lichfield’s brilliant counter attacking saw replacement Henry Nevitt
break their line of defence and from half way outpace the cover to score a superb try.
Kai Lucas-Dumolo added the points.
This was to be the final action of the game as the referee blew for full time, leaving
Lichfield the wrong side of a 22-19 scoreline.
A young (with a few exceptions!) Lichfield side can be very proud of their
performance, not least how they responded second half. They ‘nilled’ their hosts and
silenced the partisan crowd, showing remarkable resilience to keep Burton at bay. All
21 players are to be applauded. It was very much a team performance and the game
plan worked – well done the coaching team. Positives all round and a situation that augurs well for the future.
SYSTON 47 LICHFIELD 2s 17 PTS
The unbeaten Syston second string has been by miles the best side in this league and the Lichfield squad, with a continued youthful look, gave them a real test, especially in the first half, before running out of gas late on against an impressively coached unit. The fact that some of the Lichfield players had had some involvement at Burton the night before, coming off the bench in most cases, might have been a reason, and especially in Matt Key’s case, as he had started the final. The more experienced players showed their mettle throughout and there were effective offensive and defensive performances from James McKenzie, David Mott, Owen Boxall and Will Attridge and Oliver Cutler produced his best of the season.
Lichfield deserved a try bonus point, but only managed three tries scored by Boxall, Mott and Key with one conversion by Mike Turner. The 2s will also be at home to Old Salts on Saturday at 3pm in a double header before moving onto their county cup competition the following week – looking to go one better than last year’s losing final result.
WOMEN:-
LICHFIELD GREEN (2s) 51 HANDSWORTH 1s 5 PTS
Lichfield Green team put on an impressive show for the Saturday afternoon audience, although the game was affected by a serious leg injury to a Handsworth player. Roz Jermine was voted player of the match for yet another complete performance, as Lichfield helped themselves to nine tries, all by the 47th minute. In fact, they scored five in the opening 15 minutes. Zoe Evans, with three, led the try count and there were others from Ella Brierley, Kyra Geary, Sarah Baugh and Rachael Squire (2), whilst Emily Williams converted three. Their final game, which could see them move up from fourth place, is away to Crewe & Nantwich this coming Sunday at 2pm.
LICHFIELD COLTS (RED) 20 NEWCASTLE 12 PTS
The colts progressed to their third consecutive county cup final on Sunday by beating a strong Newcastle side at home, by three tries to two effectively. In a stop start first half, both sides had problems with a capricious cross wind and the game could not get properly going. The visitors opened the lead following a simple switch in the centre, which left a convenient hole in the Lichfield defence to be exploited. The Lichfield pack were just about on top and they engineered a blind side try to bring the score back to 7-5, which became the half time score line. Early in the second half, a beautifully crafted backs move produced a try off the back of a scrum on half way to give Lichfield the lead. The key period followed this try. Newcastle managed some momentum, entered the Lichfield red zone for over five minutes. The home side were down to 14 for a yellow card and had to defend heroically as they stopped repeated attacks close to their line. As soon as they escaped to safety, a clever cross kick brought try number three, which was converted and a successful penalty took the score to 20-7. Newcastle scored very late on, but Lichfield move onto the final at Cannock on 27 April against Wolverhampton. In the meantime, the Red colts have league commitments, starting at Bromsgrove on Sunday at 2pm, whilst the Green team go to Aston Old Eds for a friendly.
JUNIORS/MINIS:-
The U10s took their squad to Welford Road, Leicester for a tournament prior to the Tigers v Saracens Premiership game and had an amazing rugby experience in front of a big crowd. They won one game and drew the other. Well done Tom Fisher and his coaches.
The girls U14s will be contesting their county cup final on Sunday (6th) against a combined Leek/Longton outfit at 2pm, as they seek to extend their successful season.
The boys U16s lost at home to Burntwood, the 14s defeated Stourbridge and the 13s won against a joint Barton/Uttoxeter side.
Finally, Cooke Fields hosted the start of Staffordshire U20s’ championship campaign on Sunday – Josh Butler was part of the side, which won 41-31.
END

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