After a two week enforced break due to the winter weather, Lichfield arrived at a muddy Burton ground in high spirits following an excellent period of training in the weeks prior to the return back to the league fixtures.
The visitors were fielding an extremely young team, with John Doubleday making his debut, joining his King Edward VI School team-mates Josh Machin and Paul Maxwell Keys in a team with an average age of just 22.
Lichfield started superbly well, with Maxwell Keys making inroads into the Burton defence before Richard Burton fended off a weak tackle to burst through and power towards the half way line, following some neat interpassing Lichfield then worked the ball wide and forced the home defence into conceding an early penalty. From a superbly worked lineout, Derrick Squire passed the ball back to hooker Steve Gabbitass who powered towards the line. The whole of the Lichfield pack supported his drive and scored a try after only two minutes.
However, the inability to deal with the subsequent Burton restart would prove to set the tone for the rest of the game and would eventually prove to be Lichfield’s biggest Achilles heel.
Following an easy penalty by home winger Dave Archer, Burton then formed a well worked driving maul after some poor decision making and a strong scrum resulted in the award of a penalty which was kicked to touch. The driving maul was too organised and drove over the line for an easy score for Burton’s backrow forward Dave Fitchett.
As the game ebbed and flowed Lichfield were awarded a penalty, converted by Greg Massey but again their inability to successful organise and generate accurate phases within their own 22metre area allowed Ian Gilmour to score another try for the home side.
The Myrtle Greens lost Tom Paulson with a suspected dislocated and broken thumb after a thunderous tackle on Burton’s monstrous centre Lawrence Betty and this forced the visitors to move a Phil Jones, a centre to the backrow alongside Richard Burton and Doubleday.
With only minutes left in the first half Greg Massey was put into space following an excellent fend and acceleration from Tom Adams which allowed Massey to outsprint the Burton cover defence and score in the corner.
Lichfield went into the half time break 13-21 down but full of confidence based upon previous results this season which have consistently seenthemfinish the stronger.
However, the home side’s inability to maintain possession, particularly following a score as well as Lichfield knocking more ball on and losing more ball in contact than in any previous game this year saw a young team becoming increasingly frustrated with both the game and the referee who struggled to maintain any level of consistency.
With a penalty and try from Josh Massey – which he also converted – and a try from brother Greg, Lichfield moved level with Burton.
With 10 minutes left on the clock which ensured a climatic end to this scrappy game. Lichfield could simply not generate any phases due to the simple and frustrating mistakes which were a result of nothing more than a lack of focus and the inability to execute core, fundamental skills in the crucial areas of the pitch.
In the dying minutes a visiting lineout failed and from the ensuing scrum Burton slowed the ball down, picking and going through their forward pack.
At the end of the game, the Burton players were overjoyed which perhaps demonstrated what a tough battle this had been and also highlights the respect they have for a young Lichfield outfit who are starting to create a reputation for themselves as a team to fear and one to beat.
