HEREFORD RFC were left disappointed to come away without an spoils as a clinical Lichfield side beat them 22-14.

Home side Lichfield showed why they are pushing for promotion by clinically taking three tries to put them clear, despite a late Leon Parsons consolation effort.

Disappointed coach, Luke Fisher said: "It was always going to be a good battle, one team with the best attacking record and the other with the best defence.

"We put pressure on Lichfield, but made a few lineout errors, which in turn put us under pressure and cost us a try. Credit to the boys they came back straight away and some slick hands in the backs set up our first try (scored by Tom Starkey). Then we went off the boil, put ourselves under pressure and mistakes that had not been there for the last couple of weeks, crept back into our game.

"These were capitalised upon by a very good Lichfield attack. We scored an excellent try towards the end and for the last ten minutes we maintained positive pressure. It’s a shame that the boys came away from the game with nothing.”

An equal opening 20 minutes ended in an inception try for the hosts which went unconverted.

The Wyesiders responded with Starkey cutting inside and beating two men to score a converted effort to make it 7-5.

A high tackle by Matt Hill earned him a yellow card and from the penalty Lichfield regained the lead.

A quick tap penalty caught Hereford out and a good break saw Lichfield register their second try and a 15-7 half-time lead.

Two yellow cards saw Lichfield reduced to 13 men, but they still added a third try against the odds.

Despite Parsons pulling a try back for the Wyesiders it was too little too late as they were beaten.