LICHFIELD narrowly missed out on lifting the county cup after giving hosts Burton a scare in the final.
In a pulsating encounter, the Myrtle Greens recovered from a big half-time deficit to subdue their opponents – but fell agonisingly short of a famous win about a team flying high in the league above
Lichfield dominated territory and possession in the first 15 minutes, but couldn’t take advantage of their dominance as they stretched the opposing defence repeatedly with the pace and intensity of their play.
In an enthralling game Burton drew first blood on 20 minutes against the run of play after the ball was recycled from a lineout for the winger to go over in the corner for an unconverted try.
It took a moment of brilliance to increase the advantage on 30 minutes when the scrum half spotted a gap and went on a mazy run to score. The conversion made it 12-0.
Lichfield were reduced to 14 men for ten minutes shortly after the restart with a yellow card for an illegal block on a Burton player following up on a deft kick over the covering defence.
Burton’s forwards put the visiting defence increasingly to the test, seeking to take advantage of the extra man. But after they were held up at the line, the resulting drop out was collected they crossed for an unconverted try.
With half-time quickly approaching, Lichfield pressed to reduce the deficit – but it was the home side who would make it 22-0 at the turnaround after a powerful maul saw them drive over the line.
The second period saw Lichfield come out firing with a quick tap and go leading to Ditch Burton spark a series of phases that eventually saw Ollie Green crash over for an unconverted try.
Back up to 15 players, the Myrtle Greens continued with their fluid style of play, spurning penalties and opting to run.
Unfortunately, during a promising phase inside the Burton 22, Green suffered an injury and had to be replaced by Chad Southam, leading to play being halted with his side again threatening their opponent’s try line.
The setback did not deter Lichfield though as they continued to dominate the early second half exchanges.
The deficit was reduced further on 50 minutes when Paul Maxwell-Keys, running a brilliant line at pace, raced over with Kai Lucas-Dumolo adding the conversion to narrow the gap to 22-12.
Lichfield’s dominance continued as they called a planned move and the strong running which saw Kieran Higgins almost burst through before a penalty allowed the under-pressure hosts to clear their lines.
Burton took advantage and a searing break led to them being held up over the line following determined scrambling defence by the visitors.
As the final entered the last ten minutes, Lichfield were very much in the hunt and worked their way into the Burton 22. From a lineout, a series of close handling drives took them close to the line and they won a five-metre scrum. The Myrtle Greens threw everything at it and Rory Davis forced his way over the line – only to be denied by excellent defence who held up the ball.
The final moments saw Lichfield on the front foot again with a brilliant counter-attack seeing replacement Henry Nevitt break the line of defence and outpace the cover to score a superb try. Kai Lucas-Dumolo added the points as the final whistle blew with the brave Myrtle Greens beaten 22-19.
