Vital victory

OLD Hales got back to winning ways with a convincing home victory against a resurgent Lichfield. The visitors had recorded back-to-back wins to regain the form they showed at the start of the season and they started well with a first-minute try, following an excellent break from fly half, Jack Treehorn. Treehorn converted the try to give the visitors a seven-point lead. This suitably woke the home side up from their daze, and they pulled level within minutes.

A break down the blind-side by Steve Gollings created space for Seb Rose and after some superb handling exchanges, Rose sped in under the posts to score before converting his own score to level matters.

Hales began to take the ascendency from this point, and never looked back. Their forwards began to dismantle the Lichfield scrum, whilst some outstanding tackling in midfield from Jon Harris and Tim Curtis prevented Treehorn from changing the balance of the game. A driven line-out saw Tristan Laga power over for the first of two well-taken tries after 23 minutes. This time Rose just missing the left upright.

However, he made amends with a penalty kick three minutes later, when Ben Lees was spear tackled to leave them 15-7 up at half-time.

The second half was almost a replica of the first instalment, albeit in reverse. Hales again dominated, yet the pitch began to suffer after some heavy rain. With a heavy pitch to contend with, Hales struggled to turn their possession into points for the majority of the half. They had to content themselves with a second Laga try, again a catch and drive from a kick to the corner. The touchline conversion was duly added by Rose. The second half ended as the game had begun, with disappointment for Hales. Lichfield’s first period of sustained pressure of the Hales’ line resulted in an attacking penalty. Lichfield scrum-half Ben Gazzra tapped quickly and the ball was passed wide, surprising the home defence for a score out wide. The conversion from Treehorn signalled the end of the game and thr final whistle.