The pre match talk was that this could be the game of the season so far and plenty of Kenilworth supporters had made the relatively short journey to Lichfield's impressive Cookes Field ground in anticipation of hopefully turning over the league leaders.

On a sunny but blustery day both sides put on a match worthy of the hype and also probably worthy of at least the league above.

No quarter was given in defence where the home side in particular put in some enormous tackles to frustrate the Kenilworth side.

Lichfield appeared to have bolstered their pack with some extra Staffordshire beef for this fixture and this stopped the normally dominant Kenilworth scrum at source, the home lineout was again very impressive in the challenging windy conditions.

Both sides looked to attack when in possession, Kenilworth through the strong ball carriers up front and Lichfield through their impressive Number 8 and skilful back line.

After just nine minutes a yellow card to full back Garrett Bell for a deliberate knock on added to the pressure on the visiting side and ultimately this led to a rather simple try from the resultant scrum.

Kenilworth worked their way back up the field and after some strong carries they were awarded a penalty 30m out and relatively straight on to the posts.

Unfortunately the wind took Harry O'Brien's kick wide and Kenilworth found themselves back defending shortly afterwards.

Lichfield were moving the ball very well, accurate passing and good running lines were stretching the visitors on every phase.

Some superb defence gave the Kenilworth side heart and they worked their way into the home 22, a high tackle on fly half O'Brien saw the hosts down to 14 men for 10 minutes.

After a series of drives, top try scorer Mike Ryan reached over for the score which was converted by O'Brien and it was game on again.

Yet more pressure from the Kenilworth pack saw them camp on the home try line with Dodd, Kavanagh and Walsh heavily involved. However once the ball was moved wide the difficult pass was dropped and Lichfield had a scrum on their own 22.

The number 8 took the ball up the blind side and the Kenilworth defence chose the wrong option allowing Lichfield to burst into the Kenilworth half.

A couple of phases later and they were over for their second try which was converted. 12-7 at half time.

A minute into the second half and Kenilworth fell further behind, Lichfield winning easy lineout ball which was moved wide until their backline cut back inside and sprinted in for another try.

However Kenilworth were soon back in attack and more driving pressure close to the Lichfield line saw powerhouse prop Jake Dodd barrel over to make it 17-12.

Kenilworth were really asking questions of the home defence who generally coped with all that was thrown at them, Todd Freemantle had come on in the centres and his organisational skills came to the fore as Kenilworth attacked the clubhouse corner.

Good hands in close contact saw full back Bell atone for his earlier indiscretion and he crashed over for the levelling try.

It was 17 all with all to play for and both sides were playing attritional and skilful rugby in which the large crowd were fully absorbed.

Lichfield managed to work their way upfield after a couple of handling errors from Kenilworth and scored the clinching try with nine minutes to go.

Kenilworth tried everything to get back in front but the home side's impressive defence held out through to the final whistle.

It was a compelling game of rugby played by two very strong teams and the home side perhaps just shaded things through their fluid back line and tenacious defence.

The Kenilworth side should be proud of the efforts and will need to dust themselves down ahead of a trip to second-placed Stoke on Trent, who they need to beat to leapfrog them in the league with both sides chasing the promotion places.

Lichfield 22-17 Kenilworth

The second XV travelled to Shottery and came back with a handsome 57-5 victory and the Women's side put in a superb performance on Sunday in a narrow 22-26 defeat to a Loughborough team who beat them comprehensively in the away fixture.