LICHFIELD SEAL VICTORY TO WIN PROMOTION
Round 22 | Midlands Regional 2 North
Lichfield 31 | 26 Old Saltleians

Lichfield maintained their unbeaten home record against a determined Old Saltleians’ side to secure the League title and gain promotion to Regional Midlands 1. A closely fought game was played out in front of a bumper crowd, swelled by 200 attending Ladies Day celebrations in support of The Katherine Allport Foundation charity.
Lichfield kicked off into a strong breeze and following a Saltleians’ knock on were quickly on the offensive. If there were any nerves, these were quickly dispelled when from the resultant scrum, Lichfield struck the first blow. The ball was moved deftly, stretching their opponents left and right, creating an opening for Ben Bourne to slice through the covering defence and run in the opening try. Conditions were not conducive to place kicking and the conversion was missed.
However, Saltleians showed they were not there to simply make up the numbers and fought back to take the lead. Lichfield conceded a couple of penalties, allowing their opponents to gain a foothold in the host’s 22. Lichfield held up the first drive to the line, but conceded another penalty. Saltleians’ big pack were not to be denied and drove over the line for a converted try.
The visitors extended their lead on 11 minutes. They took full advantage of a kick through, recycling the ball and whilst Lichfield covered the initial break, Saltleians followed up with a series of pick and drives to score an unconverted try.
Lichfield responded well and in a move off the training ground, Paul Maxwell-Keys was denied by excellent defending. On 18 minutes the Saltleians no.12 was sent to the sin bin in an off the ball incident. However, Lichfield were unable to take advantage of their numerical superiority, falling foul of the referee’s whistle and the breezy conditions impacting their passing accuracy. At one point, Saltleians were reduced briefly to 13 men as another player went to the sin bin for foul play.
Lichfield’s efforts were finally rewarded on 40 minutes and it was their impressive outside centre Paul Maxwell-Keys who struck. From a scrum on Saltleians’ 10m line, the ball was moved quickly to Maxwell-Keys, who shrugged off an attempted tackle, bursting past the remaining defenders before sprinting to the line to score a superb solo try. Adam Spinner added the points to level at 12-12.
Lichfield were unfortunate not to go in front from the passage of play directly from the kick off. Saltleians knocked on and from the resultant scrum Lichfield, who were gaining
momentum in their attacking play, worked an opening down the blind side only to be denied by a forward pass.
As half-time approached, and following a period of Lichfield pressure, Saltleians responded with a fine score. Their backs engineered a break wide left, releasing the left winger, who outpaced Lichfield’s covering defence. The conversion was successful and against expectations, the visitors led 19-12 at half-time. With Dronfield leading Tamworth comfortably, Lichfield had it all to do in the second half to ensure promotion.
Lichfield had the benefit of the breeze in the second half, but were soon on the defensive as Saltleians sought to build on their lead. Lichfield’s defence was tested to the full, at one stage holding up a strong drive over their line. With Saltleians knocking on from the resultant play, Lichfield again broke from the scrum with Maxwell-Keys to the fore. Not for the first time, Lichfield were penalised at the ruck when deep inside the visitor’s 22.
Lichfield were forced back, conceding a string of penalties and culminating on 56 minutes in their first yellow card awarded against the unlucky Sam Benson for repeated offences. Saltleians kept pressing, principally through their heavier forwards, who were no doubt glad of the many interruptions in play, contrary to Lichfield, who were struggling to get any rhythm into their play as the game moved towards the final quarter.
Sensing the game could be drifting away from them, Lichfield moved through the gears. They gained a foothold in Saltleians ’22, the home side’s pressure leading to repeated offences. Progressively, from worked ‘tap & go’s’ Lichfield probed their opponent’s defence before the irresistible Freddie Wilson crossed to narrow the gap to 2 points on 63 minutes, with the conversion being missed.
It was all Lichfield now, with Rhys Davies pulling the strings from scrum half as a result of substitutions and the yellow card. Lichfield’s pack gained ascendancy at the scrum driving their opponents back, leading to turnovers that put Saltleians on the back foot.
On 73 minutes Lichfield finally regained the lead they had held after 2 minutes. From a scrum midfield, the Lichfield backs moved the ball swiftly right and left, with quick offloads stretching the visitor’s defence. Space opened up and Maxwell-Keys stretched his legs to score wide out in front of the boisterous home support. Josh Butler on as replacement at stand-off, added the conversion.
Lichfield were not finished. From the kick-off, Lichfield were awarded a penalty for a no hands tackle. Sam Benson, back at scrum-half, takes a quick tap and breaks down the nearside. With Saltleians caught napping, Benson’s marauding run creates a gap for the supporting Rhys Davies to outpace the defence and cross with ease from the 22. After a minor scuffle post touchdown, two players, one each side, received yellow cards.
Josh Butler added the conversion and Lichfield extended their lead to 31-19 on 76 minutes, having scored 19 unanswered points in an impressive period of dominant play.
Saltleians, who had belied their lowly position throughout the game, responded well. Lichfield continued to fall foul of the referee, allowing the visitors to gain a foothold in the host’s 22. Using their bulky forwards to good effect, Saltleians forced their way over near to the posts for a converted try to reduce the deficit to 5 points with the game into added time.
There was still time to restart, with rising blood pressures all around the ground. Lichfield took the game to Saltleians, but conceded a penalty, leading to a lineout to the visitors just inside the Lichfield half. The lineout was adjudged not straight and Lichfield ran out winners 31-26.
Lichfield did not have matters all their own way. However, they dug deep to overcome a spirited Saltleians side, who made the home team show their champion credentials, not least during the second half period when scoring 19 unanswered points, displaying all that is good about Lichfield rugby. Indeed, very much a Lichfield day with 15 out of the 18 players on duty having come through the Club’s Mini & Junior ranks.
For the record, Dronfield beat Tamworth easily and the final margin of 4 points is down to Lichfield’s impressive Bonus Point tally, with 18 Try Bonus points over the Season – equating to 4 tries or more in 18 out of the 22 games played.
Lichfield can look forward to next season with optimism, buoyed by their League success, their Cup Final performance and not least their impressive playing talent, all of whom will have benefited from this season’s exposure.
Next up is the end of season Papa John’s competition and Twickenham beckons, starting with a knockout game away to Newent 12 April. It should be an interesting encounter, with Newent having won the equivalent Midlands Regional 2 West league.
Report c/o Martyn Gabbitass