Lichfield RUFC arrived at Leamington to take on the league’s basement side hoping for a reasonably comfortable outing, but while they eventually secured the win, the combination of an extremely heavy pitch and determined opponents meant that they had to work much harder than anticipated to gain their victory.
The overnight rain had turned the sloping pitch into a mud bath which certainly did not suit Lichfield’s normal running and passing style of play. Handling was very difficult and they struggled to put together many continuous phases of possession. Consequently the game was error-strewn and very disjointed, but on the positive side the visiting defence was excellent, and despite conceding a lot of territory and possession they restricted Leamington to only one score all afternoon.
There were also first team debuts for two more the club’s very promising colts team – Keifer Laxton in the back row and Callum Aspley at scrum half – both of whom put in tremendous performances in the difficult conditions.
After surviving persistent early pressure the Myrtle Greens eventually managed to work their way into the game and were rewarded when Josh Massey converted a simple penalty after 15 minutes.
The home side then came back on the attack to put together a lengthy series of forward drives which Lichfield repulsed many times before their defence was finally outnumbered and the Leamington pack forced their way over in the corner just before the half hour.
The last ten minutes of the half then became Lichfield’s most lucrative period as Josh Massey first kicked a tricky long range penalty from the mud, then slipped a lovely pass to brother Greg for him to cross unopposed for a try which Josh also converted, before adding his third penalty with the last kick of the half.
Turning round to play down the slope Lichfield hoped to build on their 16-5 lead. However despite a lot of first phase possession from a very reliable scrum and lineout, the ubiquitous mud and a very generous interpretation of the offside line made it very difficult to convert the possession into real scoring opportunities. As a result the second half turned out to be largely a stalemate – with lots of defensive practice and just a few missed half chances to score.
Only in the last few minutes did Lichfield finally break the shackles when replacement Chris Upton showed his trademark hip swivel to break through the defence and then sprint 20 metres to the line – before finishing his try with a less than graceful dive!
Possibly not the game originally anticipated but nevertheless a very good work-out and another away victory which keeps Lichfield in the top six and with a good chance to move higher in the last third of the season.
This weekend (February 26) sees the re-arranged home game against Worcester Wanderers which was postponed during the bad weather pre-Christmas.
Lichfield: Taylor, Gabbitass, Bassett (c), Thompson, Squire, Laxton, Milner, Paulson, Aspley, J Massey, G Cotterhill, Adams, G Massey, Brown, Brear. Reps: Sowden, Upton and Fielding.
