Arguably Burton’s worst performance of the season, particularly in the second half, saw them squander a half time lead. More disappointingly they seemed to just roll over and surrender their half time lead against local rivals, who quite simply had a bigger appetite for the victory. Travelling supporters were scratching their heads as to the reasons behind the huge number of simple errors which handed the initiative to their opposition repeatedly!
Lichfield kicked off the game and not for the first time this season Burton knocked-on a simple looking catch. Lichfield were quick to pounce on this error and the referee allowed the advantage much to the delight of their supporters as they went through a couple of phases in possession aided by a couple of very lethargic tackle attempts and scored an unconverted try in the right corner with less than a minute’s play. Lichfield 5-0 Burton.
This proved to be a bit of a wake-up call for the Burton team as their challenge for the re-start kick was much stronger and having turned over possession they made their way into the Lichfield danger zone with a little help from two penalty offences from the home team. The second of these set up an opportunity for Burton to get their catch and driving maul working, which they did, and James Davies touched down for Burton’s first try of the game after 8 minutes. A successful conversion from Chaz Bunting took Burton into the lead. Lichfield 5-7 Burton.
Burton soon had their opponents under pressure again as long kick from Jamie Dutton found its way to touch. The Lichfield throw was not straight so Burton opted for the throw themselves. Unfortunately Burton were guilty of not moving the ball wide early and then kicked away possession rather than keeping it in the hands and any chance of another score was wasted. However their next chance was not wasted as Dutton picked up a Lichfield clearance kick on the right of the Lichfield 10 metre line, and fed the supporting Alex Nesbitt who spotted and exposed a gap as he sprinted to the left corner to score Burton’s second try of the game after 11 minutes. Bunting dragged the conversion just too much to the left, but Burton’s lead had grown. Lichfield 5-12 Burton.
Unfortunately the lethargy from Burton continued as the re-start kick as Bunting and Tristan DeJager were rather exposed as Lichfield claimed the ball and looked to hit straight back at their visitors. In their eagerness to do so they knocked-on giving Burton the put-in at a scrum. The scrum was an area where Burton were enjoying great success as they constantly had the Lichfield pack moving backwards, although, it must be said, the home team back row dealt very well with this. Nesbitt was back in the action again as he made good ground with the ball in hand along with head coach, Harry Titley but the promising move came to an end on the Lichfield “22” with a Burton knock-on this time. Midway through the half it was the home team that looked the brighter of the two as they began to gain a greater percentage of possession. Despite this Burton were enjoying their best spell in terms of defensive actions and at this stage did not look in danger of being breached.
Burton’s game management at this stage did not do them any favours as almost every time they had the ball, they opted to kick for territory rather than keeping it in their hands where, arguably, they may have had greater success. However, as they enjoyed the lion’s share of possession over the next 5 minutes Burton carved out another scoring opportunity with DeJager going over in the left corner after 25 minutes. Bunting again pulled his conversion to the left but Burton were beginning to build a healthier lead, Lichfield 5-17 Burton. The score as it stood just prior to half time would have been a fair reflection on the game so far but Lichfield kept pressing when they had their own periods of possession and so, just before half time it was no surprise that they scored their second unconverted try of the game. Lichfield 10-17 Burton.
The second half started rather like the first with Lichfield pressing and finding themselves on or around the Burton “22”. Advantage was being played for a knock on by Lichfield, but none came. Burton were guilty of switching off at this moment and were stunned when Lichfield were awarded a try rather than the game being stopped for the earlier offence. A successful conversion then tied the scores with just over a minute of the half gone. Lichfield 17-17 Burton. The next passage of play was somewhat frenetic, and error strewn from both sides. The outcome favoured Burton as Nesbitt picked up a loose ball inside the Lichfield “22” and scored his second of the game and Burton’s bonus point try. Bunting converted to give Burton a 7-point lead once again. Lichfield 17-24 Burton.
Burton would have wanted the game to settle down for a period just now, but it was not about to due in the main, to their very sloppy play in combination with Lichfield’s will to stay in the game and try to put their visitors under more pressure. This they did and after just 8 minutes the scores were level again as Lichfield too got their bonus point try and a successful conversion. Lichfield 24-24 Burton. Having surrendered their lead for a second time in the half Burton’s confidence seemed to flow out of themselves with alarming speed. Some poor decision making and poor execution throughout the team manifest itself into the “Burton grit and determination” normally associated with the players also left them in abundance.
Sensing this, Lichfield saw their opportunity to seize a rare win for themselves and set about making this first game in March a very unhappy one for their near neighbours. Unsurprisingly they scored their fifth try mid-way through the second period. The successful conversion meant they now held a 7-point lead. Lichfield 31-24 Burton. From this point on Burton looked like they were being strangled by their own inability to get themselves out of the mess they had created. Lichfield took great delight in rubbing salt into the Burton wounds with three further tries, two of which were successfully converted to reach the 50 points total. Albeit Burton did score twice more including one for Adam McClean on his return to the team and one last try from Llyr Griffiths after Lichfield had hit the 50 points total to make the final score Lichfield 50-38 Burton.