One could not fault the effort and commitment Worcester, who attempted to compete throughout this encounter, but Lichfield were a class above their hosts scoring 9 tries, 7 of which came from their backs and winning by 59-5.
Conditions made handling and passing difficult but the home side adapted much better than the visitors to the swirling wind and rain, Worcester struggling with line out ball and conceding numerous knock on’s.
Both teams were forced to field unfamiliar names in their line-ups due to international abstractions and Worcester did not have the same strength in depth as their hosts to cope with this situation.
The writing was on the wall from as early as the 4th minute, when Holly Aitcheson ran through the Worcester defence to score in the corner, she then mirrored the move to increase the lead on 10 minutes. Lichfield achieved their try bonus point in the 38th minute with further tries from Jas Coyne, Charlotte Pearce and Aitcheson completing her hat trick.
Although the Worcester pack competed well, and Lichfield’s penalty count supported this, their backs seemed unable to build on the platform provided and despite the magnificent efforts of Captain Lisa Campbell (pictured above), they were always on the back foot. However, following a good break from Kelly Smith, who made numerous tackles during the game, Zoe Bennion picked up the offload to score what proved to be consolation try in the 35th minute, but this did not inspire a comeback.
Lichfield were not significantly troubled in the second half and continued to build on the half time lead of 33-5 with tries from Carys Williams, Hannah Phillip, Molly Morrissey and Sarah Nicholas, who along with 7 conversions had an excellent game for Lichfield. Holly Aitcheson was imperious for the home side, who took full advantage of the situation and thoroughly deserved their impressive victory.
This was Worcester’s heaviest defeat for many a season and the 2nd team fared no better, going down 55 – 0, also to Lichfield, but with players on international duty and a host of injuries, just putting out two teams was something of an achievement.
Worcester entertain league leaders Richmond at Weston next Sunday, support will be welcome. The 2nd team have no game.
Report by David Guest, Worcester 1st XV Manager.
Photo thanks to AJB Photographic
