A scintillating second half performance saw Lichfield RUFC put Stoke to the sword and extend their unbeaten start to the new season.
Spurred on by a disappointing result at Stoke last year, the hosts were perhaps guilty of over exuberance in the early stages. Number 8 Sam Prior capped an impressive start with the first try of the match, but with a little more composure the hosts could have been quickly out of sight.
The visitors were doing their best to resist the onslaught, but in truth Lichfield were keeping them in the game by forcing the final pass and conceding unnecessary turnovers. A good example of this came on the 30 minute mark, as the Stoke left winger intercepted a pass and ran over 60 metres to give his side an 8-10 lead.
But the Greens were not about to panic though, and quickly restored order with two well taken tries before the break. Firstly, Greg Massey got on the end of a neat chip through, before Will Cotterhill capped a lively first half display by breaking from a dominant home scrum to score. Both tries were converted by Josh Massey and the half time scoreboard read 22-10.
If Stoke harboured any hopes of a comeback, they were quickly dispelled by Lichfield’s rampant start to the second period. Will Cotterhill and Tom Adams were on hand to finish sweeping team moves and push the Greens into a commanding 36-10 lead, with the four-try bonus point already in the bag.
Unfortunately for the visitors, the assault on their line was far from over. Sam Prior matched Cotterhill’s double with a bulldozing solo effort, before Greg Massey secured his own brace with a long range try almost immediately from the restart.
With the victory sewn up, Lichfield set about putting the finishing touches to a good day’s work. Josh Massey finished off two well executed backs move in the space of four minutes to take the score to 62-10 with just a few minutes to go. It was then left to Richard Burton, who typified a powerful showing from the home replacements, to provide a fitting finale.
The back row ran a superb line to cut through a tiring defence and score under the posts. Josh Massey completed his 29 point haul with the simple conversion and the match finished 69-10.
A resounding victory for a team who appear to be hitting top form ahead of next week’s match with Stratford.
Lichfield: Gabbitass, Clarke, Bassett (c), Southern, Squire, Taplin, Milner, Prior; W Cotterhill, L Massey,
J Massey, Maxwell-Keys, Adams, D Rowlands, G Massey. Subs: Burton, Turner, Thompson.
