LICHFIELD found Banbury a tough nut to crack as they went down 50-29 on the road.

The hosts had just one defeat so far this season and saw their bulky forwards play very much to their strengths.

The Myrtle Greens' cause was not helped by losing both of their recognised hookers to nasty injuries in the second half, which resulted in uncontested scrums – and then as a consequence having to play the last 20 minutes with 14 men.

The player advantage and enforced positional changes allowed Banbury to build momentum and reverse the 26-29 deficit they had.

Four tries were accrued by the home side – two rather gifted as Lichfield chased the game – so the 50-point mark was reached in the dying seconds, but it was not a one-sided contest.

Both sides traded punches throughout the first half and the hosts led 19-17 at the break. Gordon Burnett, a hard man to put down, scored two close range forward tries, while their other came from Marcus Reading, two of which were converted by scrum half Oliver Thompson-Nicholl.

At the other end of the pitch, Charlie Milner, playing at ten until he had to move to seven, slotted over an early penalty and converted the two tries, both scored out wide.

It took Lichfield 32 minutes to break down the home side’s stubborn defence, and then did it with sweeping moves twice in three minutes finished off by Tyler Moseley and Mike Turner.

The second half was much the same for 20 minutes, despite losing captain Kieran Reynolds after 45 minutes.

The visitors regained the lead with a third penalty try of the campaign when Tyler Moseley was halted illegally.

Banbury retaliated with a fourth close range effort from prop Jonathan Sealey, only for Rhys Wynne to score a fine solo try from 45 metres.

Within moments, Jack Dace was helped off and Lichfield had too many changes to deal with against a very useful home unit to keep the lead for long.

James Leonardi scored with ease after pick pocketing possession – and this bad news was compounded when Charlie Cranley exploited the lack of an opponent in front of him.

Things went from bad to worse as Sealey grabbed a second forwards score for himself and Cranley also helped himself to a brace, Thompson-Nicholl adding two more conversions.