Lichfield RUFC travelled to Old Halesonians to face a team in fine form in Midlands One.
Brad Rowlands returned to the XV, replacing the absent Neil Antcliffe, while Charlie Milner was back in the seven jersey in place of Tom Paulson, who turned an ankle in training.
The hosts hadn’t lost to anyone outside of the top two all season, and looked an imposing outfit from the outset. However, Lichfield looked a real match for their opposition in the opening 20 minutes, during which time only three points were recorded. This came courtesy of Old Hales full back Chris Hooper, who went on to amass 19 points in the match.
A ten minute period towards the end of the first half was to prove the undoing of the visitors as three tries in quick succession took the score from 3-0 to 22-0 at the break.
The greens had failed to generate any continuity in attack, but barely deserved to be so far behind. Two of the three scores started with Lichfield in settled possession, before silly mistakes led to turnovers and eventual tries. The referee’s dealing of the breakdown, especially his leniency towards the home openside flanker, was damaging to the visitors cause throughout.
The second half started in much the same fashion. Any spectators who arrived for the second half, would have not have looked at the two sides and guessed at a 22-0 score line.
Unfortunately, the scoreboard dictated a policy of catch up rugby for the away side. They threw everything at their opponents, but found they were up against a brilliantly resilient and resolute defensive line. A fatigued Lichfield side couldn’t find the necessary spark to find a way through. Number 8 Paul Finnemore deserves credit for a brilliant battling display, with countless carries and offensive tackles.
As Lichfield pressed to get back in the game, they somehow managed to concede two further breakaway tries. The last of these summed up the contest as a whole.
The visitors held possession for in excess of ten phases, but ran out of steam and lost shape in attack. The away back row then flirted with legality in securing possession, before right wing Seb Rose pounced on the resulting clearing kick to score.
The match ended 34-0 to the hosts, who provided a harsh lesson in the importance of taking your chances. Of the two they looked the better side, but in no way did they look 34 points better.
Lichfield will return to action on December 3 with a home tie against Ludlow.
Lichfield: Sowden, Gabbitass, Bassett (c), Thompson, Squire, Burton, Milner, Finnemore; Smith, W Cotterhill, Rowlands, Adams, G Massey, Brown, J Massey. Subs: Taylor, Raybould and Jones.
