Lichfield RUFC’s hopes of extending their unbeaten run into 2014 were dashed at Stoke.
The visitors started brightly and had the majority of possession in the opening ten minutes, however, it appeared that the Christmas break had affected them.
A calamity of errors lead to Stoke’s first try, as Lichfield gifted territory from a 22m restart, only for play to continue from a crooked lineout throw and a breakdown turnover be completely missed. This was to be the symbolic nature of the day, as all involved in the game made far too many errors.
The hosts defended intelligently and aggressively, and nullified any Lichfield attack. It was the Greens once again having the bulk of the possession, but making too many handling errors in the face of a pumped up defence.
Stoke mounted their second assault of the day and within four phases had created an overlap which they exploited well to score in the corner past some would-be defenders.
Lichfield did manage to trouble to the scorers with two Josh Massey penalties, but the home side put over two of their own to go into half time leading 18-6.
The visitors needed to increase their effort in the second half if they were to reduce the deficit and they started as if they meant business. Tidy play took them deep into the Stoke half, but the Greens were devoid of any attacking options and unable to find the handling form of previous weeks, allowing the home side to ride their luck to snaffle out any attack.
Lichfield’s day was summed up when a powerful scrum, which had Stoke under pressure all afternoon, was working its way to the line only for the visitors to pick up from the base and then turn the ball over allowing the hosts to clear.
The breakdown continued to plague the Greens and consequently they were unable to get any type of continuity. On the occasion they did, their effort was simply too low to have any impact.
It was Stoke who were to break away from a turnover in their own half and score to the delight of the crowd, a feat that was repeated in the dying stages of the game when once again an opportunity for Lichfield to score led to a turnover and the opposite happening.
This is the first game the Greens have failed to score in and shows they still have a long way to go to claim promotion.
Lichfield: Taylor, Clarke, Bassett (c), Southern, Squire, Turner, Milner, Burton; Clark, L Massey, J Fielding, Maxwell-Keys, Adams, D Rowlands, J Massey. Subs: Machin, Prior, Wedgwood.
