BROMSGROVE finished on the wrong side of a nine-try thriller at Finstall Park as Lichfield won 33-31 on Saturday.
The match was nip and tuck all the way before Dan Rowlands’ try ten minutes from time sealed victory for the visitors and ended Bromsgrove’s run of three straight wins.
Dan Protherough’s men will no doubt be kicking themselves as they led 17-14 at the interval, but a lack of accuracy in attack and a line-out which failed to function did not help their cause.
Having chalked up convincing wins over Hinckley, Dudley Kingswinford and Burton in recent weeks, the home fans would have been looking for more of the same from their side.
But Bromsgrove fell behind inside the opening ten minutes as centre Greg Massey went over and Luke Massey added the extras.
The hosts gradually eased into the contest and on the half hour mark they were awarded a penalty which Jon Critchlow converted. The fly half also scored Bromsgrove’s first try as good work from Phil Horton opened up a chance for the fly half to go over by the posts to give himself a simple conversion.
The match was already turning out to be an enthralling encounter as the away side hit straight back with a fortuitous try. A speculative chip and chase saw wing Rich Fielding touch down after the bounce of the ball eluded two home defenders.
Back came Bromsgrove, though, as their forwards mounted heavy pressure before scrum half Will Harris went over. Critchlow converted to give his side a narrow lead at half time.
This should have given the hosts a good platform to kick on and that appeared to be the case as they hammered away at Lichfield’s line early in the second half.
But a rush of blood from Critchlow saw his pass intercepted by Massey who ran the length of the pitch to score.
This seemed to rock the hosts as they soon conceded another try when Paul Maxwell-Keys crashed over, which Massey improved.
Despite the double blow, Bromsgrove got within four points when Chris Morgan powered through to score, with Critchlow adding the extras.
But with ten minutes remaining, Rowlands scored what proved to be the match winning try when he dived over in the corner.
Although the home side did not get the win they craved, they managed to clinch a second bonus point late on. A collapsed scrum led to a penalty try, which Critchlow converted.
