Lichfield City fended off a Racing Club Warwick comeback to secure a 5-2 win – their biggest of the season so far.
The result stretched the unbeaten run to six games for Paul Holt’s Midland Combination Premier Division side.
But the game wasn’t without drama as the Lichfield allowed a 3-0 lead to be cut to just one goal before finding the extra gear to seal the victory.
City showed their attacking intent early on as a tricky run and shot from Liam Holt was smartly turned away by keeper Kevin Tobin.
If that effort was just a warning then it only took until the 15th minute for Lichfield to fully flex their goalscoring muscle. Lee Ashmore’s through ball found Kyle Minto, who held off a challenge to net his first goal for the club.
Tobin’s half was getting busier and busier in the Warwick goal as he was again called into action to keep out a Jacob Snape effort.
City were undeterred and duly doubled their lead on 35 minutes when Danny Thurstance swept home after good work from Richard Deavall to score his third goal in two games and send his side in two goals to the good at half-time.
Any hopes Warwick might have had about City easing off and protecting their lead in the second period were dismissed when a handball allowed Ashmore to convert from the penalty spot and put a three goal margin on the scoreboard.
But a second penalty in three minutes – this time for a handball by Jonathan Huckfield saw Luke Wilson reduce the arrears for Racing Club Warwick.
With an hour on the clock it seemed that an unlikely comeback was on the cards when Ben Purser headed home to make it 3-2.
However, Lichfield’s dominance was restored when Liam Holt found the net on 73 minutes.
A convincing victory was secured when City’s 17-year-old debutant Fabian Facey created the opening for Lewis Bourne to complete the scoring in injury time.
The win moves City up to 13th in the table and they will be hoping to make up even more ground on the clubs in the top half when they travel to basement boys Blackwood on Saturday (November 24) – a fixture which pits Lichfield striker Jacob Snape against his former club.
Click below to see more of Lichfield City’s pictures from their game against Racing Club Warwick:
