Luctonians 41 pts Lichfield 3

LUCTONIANS took a step closer to the play-off spot for promotion from Midlands 2 West with a convincing victory over bottom club Lichfield.

Despite a waterlogged pitch, the home side ran in three tries before half- time and added a further four after the break

With points difference possibly deciding home advantage in a play-off match for a place in Midlands 1, it was important that Luctonians scored as many points as possible and skipper Charlie Turner can feel pleased with Saturday's effort.

Luctonians attacked from the start and the pressure resulted in a 12th-minute try when they switched the ball blind and full-back Will Crawforth put prop Steve Jaques over in the left corner, Jon Goodwin narrowly missed the difficult conversion.

The muddy conditions enabled Lichfield to close down Luctonians for a while but in the 35th minute Jaques, who enjoyed a fine all round match, gave Matthew Phillips a glimpse of the line and the centre handed of his opposite number and was over. Just before the break Phillips got his second try and this time Goodwin added the extra points with an excellent touchline conversion.

Luctonians soon added to their score in the second half when Darren Brick made a dash down the right touchline. The ball was moved left and full-back Crawforth joined the line to cross near the posts to give Goodwin an easy conversion.

Lichfield replied with a Neill Antcliffe penalty but the Luctonians forwards then took control of the match, revelling in the muddy conditions.

They added three more tries through flanker Richard Morgan, prop Ben McGowan and, finally, flanker Dan Grant who had come on in place of the injured Rob Carloss. An Andrew Morris conversion of Morgan's try completed the scoring.

Luctonians have a break from league rugby this Saturday but now have a play-off place firmly in their sight.

They will be aiming to win their two remaining fixtures and force Wellingborough to travel to Mortimer Park for the final showdown.