Lichfield returned from the short journey up the A38 to Burton with a fine 29-12 victory.
The first versus second place clash was always going to be an intriguing encounter, but it was one the Myrtle Greens controlled from start to finish.
From the kick off, Burton won the ball and kept it tight, working little offloads to try and get in behind the defence. But they found the visiting backline in no mode to gift them a way through.
Lichfield eventually forced the hosts back when a loose ball was fly hacked through and won by the chasing Lichfield players. A scrum was awarded, and from the ensuing phases, the visitors sucked in enough defenders to spread the ball wide to Tom Adams who beat two men to score in the corner. The conversion was missed, but with only four minutes played, the home crowd were already silenced.
It was the Greens exerting all the pressure and Burton began to give away penalties at the breakdown. The pack worked tirelessly and when a penalty was won, a kick at goal was taken. This was missed, but the resulting drop out saw Lichfield counter, and the ball was moved neatly down the blind side between several sets of hands, before Paul Maxwell-Keys powered over for the second score of the game. The conversion was added by Luke Massey to give his side a 12-point advantage with as many minutes played.
The rest of the half remained scoreless, but not for lack of trying. The visitors were denied several times by the referee, and as the Burton pack began to tire they constantly killed the breakdown. When the hosts did venture into the Lichfield half, strong defence and a lack of creativity saw them repelled.
The second half was more entertaining, and took only five minutes for Jack Fielding to score on his first team debut. A well worked backs play from a set piece, saw him slice between the defence and beat the covering full-back to score close to the posts. Dave Lote converted, and Lichfield stretched their lead to 19-0.
Burton tried to continue to play, but errors of their own and resolute defending meant they never had the ball for long.
They did eventually get some joy in controversial circumstances when their appeared to be an obstruction as the fly-half made moves forward. But play was waved on and the ball was passed wide for the substitute winger to score. The conversion was missed, but the home side had the taste for points.
However, as they pushed for a second try a mistake was made and snapped up by Jonny Evans. His great vision put a deep kick into the Burton 22 that Greg Massey pounced on. The Burton defence scrambled back well, but could not exit. Continual phases saw the forwards hammer them back, until the ball was looped to Cal Turner on the wing to dive over. Lichfield’s lead was restored to 24-5 and they had gained a try bonus point.
The Greens continued to play smartly and pinned Burton back into their own half with some excellent kicks.
The home side were undone again by an excellent Lichfield team try. Defenders were sucked in and excellent lines and hands saw the ball moved to Greg Massey. He rounded his man and fixed the winger before feeding onto Nick Southern. With only the full back to beat, he danced his way past him to score near the corner. An excellent try that Lichfield and their supporters appreciated. The conversion fell short, and with the score now at 29-5, the game was well beyond Burton.
However, the hosts did manage to score once more. They ripped the ball from a stolen lineout, and drove the 15 metres to drop down over the line. The conversion was good, with the game finishing 29-12 to Lichfield.
Lichfield: Craddock, Clarke, Bassett ©, Thompson, Southern, Turner, Milner, Prior; W Cotterhill, L Massey, J Fielding, Maxwell-Keys, Adams, D Rowlands, Lote. Subs: Machin, Evans and G Massey.
