Lichfield travelled to Bedworth anticipating a tough encounter and this is exactly what they received.
From the kick-off, the hosts drove aggressively from the base of the ruck and practically worked the ball the full length of the pitch. The visiting pack dominated the ensuing scrum, allowing Will Cotterhill to pounce on the ball and eventually clear the lines.
The Lichfield pack again forced a mistake at the Bedworth lineout and from the resultant scrum Will Cotterhill started and finished a well worked blindside move after Paul Maxwell-Keys and Greg Massey linked well. From the subsequent kick off, Richard Burton caught and expertly distributed the ball across the pitch and Greg Massey, in typically flamboyant style stepped and weaved his way through the defence to score again under the posts, converted by brother Josh.
Bedworth stuck to their game plan, and after some strong driving work by their forwards Danny Coleman scored their opening try.
Lichfield always looked dangerous with ball in hand but they struggled to develop any phases. Following a strong run and line break from the impressive Tom Adams, now back in the sort of form which he had prior to his shoulder injury, George Cotterhill ran powerfully down the left touchline. As defenders began to close his space down, George chipped the ball forward which placed the covering Bedworth full-back under all sorts of pressure. After fumbling the ball George gathered and ran in a superb individual try.
The visitors returned to the changing room at half time, frustrated with the game and an inability to maintain possession and play with any sort of intensity and tempo.
As with the first half, Bedworth started the second period brighter and John Allison scored after only fpir minutes of play, converted by fly half Alan Foster. This seemed to wake the Lichfield players up and in nine minutes they amassed 19 points, Greg Massey scoring two almost identical tries from well-worked blindside moves, converting both tries himself and substitute Matt Smith scoring a superb try to stretch Lichfield’s lead to 38-12.
The Bedworth players were now really struggling, and having used up their three substitutes they were forced to move forwards into the back line. The repeated stoppages due to injury and substitutions removed any sense of intensity from the game and it began to resemble an American Football match as the home team began to rotate on and off the pitch at every stoppage, much to the frustration of the Lichfield coaching staff, supporters and players.
This suited the hosts as, unlike in the previous three games, Lichfield were unable to maintain an intensity for the full 80 minutes which would tire the opposition out and allow for a more open game.
In the 71st minute, the Bedworth openside Matt Randle scored after some strong carrying play from the home forwards, converted by Foster.
After Richard Burton for Lichfield and Paul Hurst for Bedworth were both yellow carded the game looked to be over, but not before the visitors smartly moved the ball within their own dead ball area catching the home backs napping. Substitute Brad Rowlands showed a superb turn of pace to motor down the touchline. Will Cotterhill took a great off-load before executing a neatly timed pass back to Rowlands who accelerated to score under the posts. This highlights the attacking threat Lichfield have, and the ability to score from anywhere on the pitch is credit to the confidence they now have in one another. Josh Massey capped off an impressive all round performance with the conversion taking the score to 45-19.
Although this was a frustrating game, the Lichfield coaching team were incredibly impressed with focus and attitude of the entire squad during this game. The team are maturing into a highly professional outfit that are developing a number of styles of play which is very exciting to witness.
Lichfield welcome Camp Hill to Cooke Fields this Saturday (January 28) in what will be another tough battle for the Myrtle Greens.
Lichfield: Ben Sowden, Stephen Gabbitass, Dave Bassett (c), Joe Thompson, Derrick Squire, Adam Clarke, Charlie Milner, Rich Burton, Will Cotterhill, Luke Massey, Paul Maxwell-Keys, Josh Massey, Tom Adams, George Cotterhill, Greg Massey, Josh Machin, Matt Smith, Brad Rowlands.
