LICHFIELD were forced to battle it out to get the better of Matlock.
For 50 minutes the two sides traded tries until the Myrtle Greens scored three in a row to take them out to 38-26 – only for the home side to manage a seven-pointer with two minutes to go.
Those last 120 seconds were spent in a midfield stalemate, with Lichfield were able to maintain their 100% record.
There was no shortage of endeavour from the Myrtle Greens, but some of their one on one tackling was disappointing at times, which on three occasions gave Matlock easy tries and 19 points.
However, Lichfield dogged it out with determination and won with six tries in a game of 11 overall.
With only five minutes gone and the visitors looking comfortable with their efforts, a misread and a missed tackle allowed right wing Danny McCrea to escape for the opening try.
The response from Lichfield was based around trying to play quickly and wide, which eventually brought Ditch Burton his first, picking a perfect line.
Matlock’s next came from a driven line out finished by Lewis Richardson, converted by George Adlington, before a training ground move left Paul Maxwell-Keys to bash his way through two tacklers. Kai Lucas-Dumolo added a second conversion with two more following after half time.
With the break approaching, the city side lost their lead again when they let left wing Sammy Cunningham fly past two tacklers. Adlington converted from the touchline to gain a lead of 19-14 at half time.
Lichfield decided on some changes in personnel and formation at the interval and it nearly worked instantly, but a scoring pass went to ground.
The visitors were now playing with more assurance and Burton proved unstoppable for number two, only for them to lose the ball on the Matlock 22 in their next attack and McCrea was soon scooting away for a long range converted try.
The visitors were now applying pressure regularly and the hosts struggled to cope with the pace the game was now being played at. Lots of patient approach work left Burton with room to squeeze over – and Matlock then presented a try to Sam Benson after losing control of a turned over ball.
Rhys Davies was now in the scrum half role, making a welcome debut at this level and reviving the half back partnership with Josh Butler from the Colts last season.
With Matlock now getting stretched regularly, Ollie Green scored next and Lucas-Dumolo was tackled high to take Matlock down to 13 players.
Lichfield then found themselves down to the same number in a bizarre few minutes as they had to deal with Matlock returning to full numbers too. Eventually, pressure told and Harry Houghton’s converted effort gave them some hope of a late steal, but it was not to be as the city side held on.
Elsewhere, the 2nds came out on top in a 26-7 home victory over Atherstone.
In a stop-start game with lots of scrums, the hosts were able to score four tries to gain another useful bonus point win against first team opposition.
Harrison Stratford and a purposeful Jack Hamlet scored two first half tries, both converted by Neil Antcliffe, before the visitors halved the lead.
The advantage was extended before the break when the speedy James McKenzie scored the third, which was converted by Antcliffe.
With the weather closing in, the game became even more bogged down with scrummages, but a fourth try was scored by ex-Colt George Brown, while Jack Barnes also came on for a senior league debut.
