LICHFIELD were left to rue missed chances after a home defeat against high-flying Bournville.
The early phases saw both sides probing, but it was the visitors who made the breakthrough when pressure told as a neat offload allowed them to cross in the corner for a converted try.
Bournville continued to press from the restart and extended their advantage after 19 minutes when a lucky bounce went in their favour to stretch the lead.
Lichfield pushed to get a foothold in the game, with pressure in the scrum leading to a succession of penalties, but they were unable to convert this into points as they went in at the break 14-0 down.
The Myrtle Greens started the second half by threatening the visitors’ line with a succession of pick and drives, but it was Bournville who added to their lead totally against the run of play as their quick winger completed his hat-trick.
The hosts rang the changes with all three replacements coming on after 50 minutes.
However, it was Bournville who maintained pressure and added to their lead on 55 minutes when the backs created space for their left wing to round the defence and score wide out for a 26-0 lead.
Lichfield dug deep and put together a series of quick phases which ended in replacement Michael Turner finishing off a flowing passage of play. Henry Nevitt narrowly missed the difficult conversion.
The penalty count against Bournville rose as the home side’s pressure increased, leading to a yellow card on 72 minutes for repeated infringements.
The gap was cut to 14 points five minutes later when Tyler Moseley took advantage of a well worked overlap to race over. Nevitt added the extra points.
But Lichfield couldn’t add to their score as the league leaders had the final say when the number eight crashed over for a converted try.
