Dominant Second Half Show Gives Tamworth Festive Bragging Rights

Saturday saw the long anticipated Castle v Cathedral derby as Tamworth welcomed local rivals Lichfield to Wiggington Park.
The visitors were flying high in the league after suffering only one narrow defeat all season so Tamworth although confident after a battling away win last time out knew they were going to have to find another gear if they were to get any change out of Lichfield especially after a heavy defeat in the reverse fixture earlier in the season.
A sizable crowd turned out to watch including some former players who had taken part in many of these fixtures over the years and knew what it meant to both sides to get one over on your neighbours.

Tamworth’s cause wasn’t helped much when they lost tighthead prop Andy Kirk with a leg injury following a hefty contact after just four minutes forcing a reshuffle in the front row.
Just a couple of minutes later they found themselves behind as Lichfield flooded forward working the ball wide for the winger to slide in at the corner 0-5
The Lichfield number 8 was sent to the sin bin for a no arms tackle after half an hour but rather than Tamworth using this period to their advantage they found themselves further behind as the Lichfield centre ghosted through the Tamworth defence to double their lead. 0-10

The hosts narrowed the deficit with a couple of Danny Norton penalties followed by something not often seen at this level as Tamworth put pressure on the Lichfield try line in the dying seconds of the first half the ball was passed to Norton standing back in the pocket from where he struck a sublime drop goal to make it a one point game at the break 9-10
Tamworth started the second half much brighter than they had the first with some meaningful pressure on the Lichfield defences forcing them into conceding a string of penalties as they struggled to contain a resurgent home side who soon took the lead for the first time when the ball was recycled from a ruck a smart offload from Jimmy Carroll gave young winger Jack Dalton a chance in the corner and although he still had some work to do to score he twisted out of a desperate last ditch tackle to finish well 14-10
Things got even better for Tamworth on the hour mark when Lichfield conceded yet another penalty five metres out and a quick tap saw Macauley Green stopped just inches short but as the ball was recycled his fellow back rower Kit Smith took the ball at pace and there would be no stopping him from that distance and he crashed over to score. Norton added the extra’s and Tamworth led 21-10
Lichfield’s discipline let them down again as they struggled to contain a Tamworth side who sensed victory was there for the taking and another Norton penalty took them two converted tries clear with the clock definitely in the home sides favour. 24-10
They were in fact the final points of the match to make it two weeks in a row where Tamworth haven’t conceded a single point in the second half of a game and to be honest never looked like conceding with a dominant second half performance taking them into the festive period with the local bragging rights.
Their next fixture will be another local derby when they welcome Sutton Coldfield to Wiggy Park on 6th January.
Final Score
Tamworth 24
Lichfield 10