A much changed Lichfield outfit arrived at Stratford hunting for a fourth placed finish but anticipating a tough contest.

The game began at an explosive pace and the intensity and accuracy at which the visitors started simply blew away the opposition.

After only five minutes Lichfield were 21 points up after Callum Turner scored two tries and Paul Maxwell Keys also crossed the line after some superb footwork, Greg Massey converting all tries.

However, the Myrtle Greens then took their foot of the accelerator and allowed Stratford to come back into the game.

After sloppy front line defending and a poorly defended driving maul, the hosts slowly came back into contention.

At half time, with the scores tied at 28-28, Lichfield knew that they had a lot of work to do if they wanted to break a tough Stratford side.

As the weather took a turn for the worse, the young visiting side cleverly adapted to the conditions and changed their style. With the addition of Josh Massey from the bench, Lichfield’s kicking game ensured that the rugby was played in the right areas of the pitch.

Greg Massey calmly kicked a penalty early on in the second half after some outstanding phase play, Luke Massey orchestrating the attack as he has done so well for the whole of the season. Strong runs from Tom Adams, George Cotterhill and Richard Burton piled on the pressure on a tiring Stratford team.

The addition of Simon Haber and Dan Taylor off the bench added a much needed injection of power and intensity and this soon allowed the Myrtle Greens to start to dominate the set piece.

From a well controlled scrum close to the Stratford line, Richard Burton powerfully drove over, converted by Greg Massey.

Massey then kicked another penalty and with the last play of the game, he topped off an outstanding season as he received the ball from a central scrum, side-stepped several defenders to run the length of the pitch to score in dramatic style in the corner much to the delight of the travelling supporters.

The final score of 46-28 highlighted the quality and intelligence within the side. The fact that Stratford were unable to score in the second half also demonstrated the level of fitness which allowed Lichfield to maintain the intensity and pressure which was reached at points within the first half.

Burton RFC helped Lichfield achieve fourth position in the league after defeating a Worcester team which appeared to have run out of gas towards the end of the season.

Lichfield: Machin, Gabbitass, Bassett (c), Thompson, Squire, Doubleday, Turner, Burton; Aspley, L Massey, Maxwell-Keys, Antcliffe, Adams, G Cotterhill, G Massey. Subs: Taylor, Haber and J Massey.