Lichfield Ladies v Richmond Women

Review

In round 5 of the Women’s Premiership Lichfield welcomed Richmond to Cooke Fields.

Lichfield started strongly, dominating in the scrum and enjoying more possession and territory, but against the run of play, Richmond were first to score with an unconverted try in the corner after 14 minutes.

With Richmond conceding a number of penalties as a result of continued pressure, it was only a matter of time before Lichfield scored and Sarah Nicholas coolly slotted over two long range penalty kicks to get the scoreboard moving for the home team. Another unconverted try from Richmond, left the half time score at 10-6 to the visitors.

Lichfield started even better in the second half, moving the ball quickly and stretching Richmond’s defence. Sarah Nicholas added a third penalty kick to bring the score to 10-9. Then a superb solo effort from Holly Aitcheson, who picked up a loose ball 40 metres out and beat five defenders to score on 60 minutes gave Lichfield the lead in the match for the first time at 14-10.

Richmond reacted by making a number of replacements and increased the pace and intensity of their game to put Lichfield under intense pressure. They scored four late tries in the last 15 minutes and two conversions to give them a hard fought victory 34-14.

Commenting on the match, Lichfield’s Head Coach Rich Bennett said “I was really proud of our effort and commitment today, for 60 minutes we were more than a match for a very strong Richmond side and I thought we deserved more from the game.

They were much stronger in the last 15 minutes and took their opportunities well. We believe we are really close to much improved performances and results. We just need to keep working hard, focus on our discipline and play for the full 80 minutes and the results will come”