Whitchurch 15

Lichfield 19

A TRY in the last minute broke Whitchurch hearts as they went down at home to title chasing Lichfield.

The home side had dominated for most of the game but a mix of bad decisions and poor handling meant that they were only just ahead by three points as the game was about to finish.

The Edgeley Park men started the match in great style and pressed the much vaunted Staffordshire champions but it took until the 25th minute to get across the line when Tom Davies touched down in the corner from a clever Joe Mullock crosskick.

The conversion was missed but it seemed that Whitchurch were on their way.

However, Lichfield are not where they are by luck and showed their own power game to equalise two minutes later with a driving maul.

The game now swung from end to end but with just a minute to go to half-time, Lichfield went a man down to a red card for foul play.

Whitchurch took immediate advantage when Steve Bloore finished off a rolling maul to score leaving the half-time score 12-10 pts.

The Reds started the second half lethargically and found themselves behind again when a clearance kick was charged down by the visiting flanker who was a s surprised as anyone when the ball flew up and landed back in his hands to fall over and score.

The kick was made and Lichfield took the lead for the first time.

Whitchurch now pushed hard and stepped up the pace. They were rewarded with a try from Jack Furnival from the back of a driving maul to retake the lead by three points.

The home side then seemed to be going on to victory when Matt Davies was put through on the wing.

With nobody in front of him, he was ready to celebrate when the referee's whistle called him back saying the ball had gone forward.

Whitchurch were then given what should have been a further boost when another Lichfield player was given a red card for a second technical offence.

Frustratingly, the prospect of facing only 13 men seemed to do the opposite and Whitchurch went into a stupor leaving their promotion seeking visitors to score the winning try in the last minute.