DRONFIELD 31 LICHFIELD 1ST XV 17 PTS

Dronfield won this top of the table match up with a dominant third quarter effort against a young Lichfield outfit, who battled and battled right to the end. The visitors had to contend with a lack of experience in the side, no league rugby for a month and a strong home side, who were definitely committed and knew how to exploit their famous sloping pitch. Nevertheless, Lichfield had some purple patches of their own, but they needed more variety to their attacks to break down a very well organised scrambling defence. It ended with Dronfield earning five points with four tries scored, whilst Lichfield left north Derbyshire with none.

The home side’s leading try scorer, Reika Mahmid, opened the scoring after just two minutes. Joe Farrell, a combative outside centre who like to take the ball right on the gain line, made the original break and when right wing Mahmid received the ball in the Lichfield red zone, the cover tackled him, but he was able to scramble over the line legally on all fours. Captain, Jake Steade, extended the lead to eight points with a straight penalty soon after.

Lichfield responded well, as they started to settle into the match, despite their scrum and line out being under constant pressure. They worked their way into the Dronfield ‘’22’’ more and more often and looked confident in their systems and processes. The reward was a smartly taken quick penalty, which afforded Sam Benson a try by the posts, converted by Kai Lucas-Dumolo. Almost immediately, Henry Nevitt, later to go off with another shoulder knock, put the visitors into the lead with a penalty from his own half.

The remainder of the half was very even, although Steade put his side in front right on half time with another penalty following some defiant Lichfield defence, which earned them a harsh penalty.

The home side were soon exploiting their local knowledge, Steade kicked a further penalty and a break by wing, George Finlay, opened the way for Farrell to score a second try. Their lead was extended to 14 points after they drove a line out over from short distance with hooker, George Burch, at the bottom of the pile.

Lichfield could have caved in, however, they found some decent possession and pounded the Dronfield line for several minutes. To be fair, the home defence was exemplary and they saw out the danger and were eventually able to escape to the safety of the Lichfield half. From there, they exploited a Lichfield dropped ball and Greg Cooke was able to barge his way over, Steade converted.

The city side rallied again and found a way to earn themselves a second try, scored by Josh Butler, converted by Lucas-Dumolo, but time did not allow the chance to grab a bonus point.

Beaten yes, but far from a disgraced afternoon for the Lichfield squad, which contained nine under 24 year olds and was short of five of its top six try scorers, who also add variety and some nous to the Lichfield attack. Nevertheless, the side move onto Ilkeston this Saturday for a rearranged match from earlier in January, KO 2.15pm. The 2s, after a conceded defeat to Bedworth, go to Tamworth on Saturday, KO 2.15pm.