Joe Bourne contributed a classy and very welcome last minute try to give Lichfield a third win of the season.
The game at Broad Street was locked at 17-17 when the Myrtle Greens man created the decisive moment of the match.
Lichfield had survived on minimal rations of possession for large parts of the fixture, spending much of the 80 minutes in their own half. But their defence was much improved – and this proved crucial.
Broad Street were limited in attack, recycling the ball over and over again through their forwards, but with no pace so that the visitors could defend with much more assurance.
The hosts only created one try all afternoon, that exploited a 14 man defence with Adam Spinner in the bin, the other was an interception.
This was not a classical game of rugby. Lichfield dropped the first kick off and it took them ten minutes to get out of their own half.
There was no scoring for 25 minutes – the home side did miss a kickable penalty – and then Ashmore broke through from a line out on the Broad Street 22 and easily scored near the posts. Captain, Charlie Milner, added the extras.
On the half hour, the hosts scored their only try of the afternoon, with Holliday converting to make it 7-7 at half time.
The visitors started the second period brightly, but disaster struck as a Broad Street forward intercepted a pass in his 22 and he was able to give centre, Patrick, the job of running the converted try in.
Lichfield responded positively and five minutes later Bourne used his speed to easily burn off the opposition defence. The conversion brought it back to 14 all.
While the visiting scrum held up well and Kieran Reynolds regularly found Cal Turner in the line out, increasingly much of this was being done in their own half, as Broad Street huffed and puffed to find a way to score a third try.
Well inside the last quarter, Holliday and Milner exchanged penalties to leave the game still having in the balance.
The pivotal moments for Lichfield came in the last ten minutes with the outcome seemingly destined for a draw. Broad Street scrum half, West, grabbed the ball off Ollie Green at a scrum and raced away towards the posts and probable victory – but Ben Ashmore hauled him down ten metres from the line and then got to his feet to win a turnover penalty.
Five minutes later and the Myrtle Greens took full advantage when Bourne was given enough space to escape down the right. Rapid pace helped him through to full back Leahy, who was bounced off by the winger’s power.
The win takes Lichfield up one place in the table to tenth with the four points earned.
Next weekend sees the city side welcome Bromsgrove to Cooke Fields.
