Lichfield 12 Vs Stafford 38

Stafford travelled to Lichfield on a run of really good performances and the hope that this would continue against a team that has had the better of us for a few seasons at both club and school level.
So with an hour in bed lost and a grey breezy Sunday morning greeting us, it wasn’t a surprise to find a heavy pitch , one half of which provided an uphill gradient. With these elements in place the advice to stand in skipper Alfie, was to play uphill while you have the energy and use the breeze and slope in the second half. Thankfully the captain delivered and Stafford kicked off uphill.
It was clear from the off that Stafford were up for it today and literally had a spring in their step as Alfie, Ollie and Jack all had big carries making good ground only for Dex to be stopped short. Lichfield realised they were in a game and scrapped to turnover the ball and clear their lines.
With the ball in midfield Stafford drove the Lichfield scrum backward and turned the ball over , Finn H went blind and was well supported by Alfie who punched another big hole. After a further recycle the ball went blind with good hands which Dex finished to open the scoring (0-5).
Lichfield rallied as you’d expect and a lovely weighted kick turned the stafford defence, it was a foot race that Finn G did really well to win and get the loose ball down for the goal line drop out.
It was a breathless first 10mins and Stafford were making great yards with further breaks by Alfie and Finn H only for a turnover stopping Jack and Jake in the opposition 22.
Stafford would soon find themselves with a scrum on the halfway, the backs went wide early and it initially looked like an on rushing defence had bottled the space, but Leon only needs half a yard and the winger stepped and accelerated through the gap, with just the fullback to beat he faded out and stepped back in riding the attempted tackle to score under the posts (0-12 Will conv).
Stafford were looking good but it was clear that Lichfield had some good players and their centres sprung the stafford line and capitalised with a converted try to cut the score (7-12).
Stafford gathered themselves and went straight back at it, Alfie made yet another lung buster of a break, well supported by Ed, who led the cavalry and retained the possession, Will and Finn H combined to release Dex who again was stopped short, the forwards rolled thru allowing clean ball for Jake to pounce for a try from short distance (7-19 Will conv ).
Stafford were tight in defence and following another turnover , Will put thru a chip which turned the Lichfield defence and although they initially covered the threat, Stafford would again turn over the ball which supplied space to Jack who took the ball on but instead of looking for contact he went with a pass and a crashing Alfie would get a try , just desserts for his efforts (7-26 Will).
Stafford would get one more chance before the break as a penalty would be quickly taken only for Jude to be stopped short, a great first 30.
As the subs were bought into the fray, the hope was they would quickly get up to the pace of the game, Lichfield attacked straight from the restart and they found themselves short of the Stafford line with a line out. Going short and recycling quickly they would open the second half scoring (12-26).
Stafford though came straight back, did I mention Alfie carried strong , I don’t recall , this time from a scrum he took stafford deep into the Lichfield half, although initially it didn’t lead to a score the pressure was on the home team and Stafford would win a scrum. A clean ball from Will (now it at 9), gave Harry W and Connor go forward and the centre crashed through three wannabe tacklers to get a score on his birthday (12-33 Will conv).
A big shout out to the Ollies who fielded every kick off cleanly in breezy conditions frustrating the opposition so much that they changed tact and kicked straight down to Alfie , with some gas still in the tank he went back at pace and after some good hands set up Finn H who would finish off for the final try , nothing short of what he also deserved (12-38).
That would close the game and scoring for the morning.
A terrific team performance that deserved possibly a couple more tries and we still have work to do but these performances are stacking up really well and you can see the belief in the players.
Lionel Messi who knows a thing or two about winning is quoted as saying that “You cannot allow your desire to be a winner to be diminished by achieving success before and I believe there is room for improvement in every sportsman”and that’s what these young men are doing, no matter the performance the week before, they ask how they can improve, constantly challenging, and learning with each other.
Big shouts for all 20 players who can enjoy this win, especially Ollie B and Will B who both led the lines and got each attack moving, an almost MOTM for Finn H whose defence and attack the last few weeks have been superb. But the MOTM was the stand in captain who I know enjoys these write ups, well take a bow fella, not a big one for speeches in the circle but led from the front making huge carry after carry setting the tone of work rate for his teammates to follow from first to last whistle, his best game yet.
And now we move on to a Friday night development clash at Home and then Sunday is Telford away