Lichfield suffered defeat on the road as they took on Stow-on-the-Wold in the Papa John’s Cup.
The home side took the honours in a game of 11 tries as the Myrtle Greens failed to take their A-game down the M40 to Gloucestershire and fell foul of an erratic refereeing performance.
For the opening minutes, Lichfield had the game under control with plenty of possession.
However, the city side fell behind when an attack down the right on ten minutes had Stow scrambling to defend their try line. But hwen the visitors were penalised at the breakdown, home scrum half Jamie Gibbs tapped and ran to half way totally unopposed and untouched before giving a scoring pass to Ben Collett to run in from 50 metres as the other 28 players watched on.
For the next 20minutes, Lichfield were in almost total control. Charlie Milner, back from injury, Rich Burton and David Mott scored tries, which reflected this control, with Kai Lucas-Dumolo adding two conversions.
Stow fought back at the end of the half and proceeded to score two tries of their own based on patient build ups through Giles King and Gus Hayward to send the sides in level at 19-19.
The momentum at the start of the second half was all Stow’s as they exploited some indecisive Lichfield defence. Left wing Cam Tyler scored twice from long distance and his side had now scored four unanswered tries rather too easily.
Paul Maxwell-Keys, straightening the line well, grabbed a much needed try for the Myrtle Greens to bring the score back to 31-24.
The script went Stow’s way, however, asKing scored from 40 metres out beating five Lichfield defenders on the way, while Charlie Slatter’s fourth conversion settled the outcome.
There was still time for Burton to score a second try, converted by Lucas-Dumolo, but the home side’s energetic rearguard held firm.
To add to the day’s unpredictable feel, Long Eaton conceded 52 points in their home defeat to Northampton Old Scouts – the same opponents Lichfield will travel to this weekend.