Lichfield City’s manager says he is pleased to see his side get a spring back in their step ahead of their play-off campaign.
The Trade Tyre Community Stadium side bounced back from the disappointment of missing out on the title as the league’s top goalscorer Dan Smith and captain Joe Haines sealed all three points in their final game of the regular season against Studley.
A 2-1 win over their third-placed opponents saw Lichfield finish the campaign with a second-place finish and a play-off spot – as well as completing an unbeaten season on home turf in the league.
Boss Ivor Green rang the changes as Ronnie Holt and Tom Brown came in to replace Josh Wykes and the injured Dan Lomas.
The City chief said:
“We’ve had to juggle around the squad with the play-offs coming up, but I’ll take my hat off to the lads that have come in – they looked like they’ve been in the squad all year.
“We needed to get back that spring in our step. We were a bit flat after missing out on the title, so the aim was to get that spring back ahead of the semi-finals.”
Ivor Green
Things didn’t start well for Lichfield though as Studley took the lead just seven minutes in when Bailey Fuller poked the ball bast James Beeson following a break down the left.
But Smith and Jude Taylor then combined to bring their side level, as Lichfield’s number nine headed home his 34th goal of the season.
Jack Edwards proved to be a thorn in the side of the visitors throughout the first half, repeatedly cutting in from the left-hand side – but he was unable to find Smith and Dom Lewis with crosses into the area.
Neither side could impact the scoreline further before the half-time whistle, but Studley came close after the break as the hosts were forced to clear their lines from back-to-back corners.
But Haines then put City ahead as he received a short free kick and fired a powerful shot into the bottom right-hand corner.
Lichfield continued to test Brendan Bunn in the Studley goal, as Taylor and Luke Childs both went close to hitting the mark.
An acrobatic save from the Studley keeper kept out youngster Jake Bromley before the referee’s final whistle brought an end to Lichfield’s regular season campaign.
They will now look forward to a home tie in the play-off semi-finals on 27th April after the Midland Football League pushed the tie back by a week to allow all teams to complete their fixtures after a number of weather-related cancellations during the season.