Dudley Kingswinford 17, Lichfield 24

A LATE try saw Dudley Kingswinford suffer defeat after a close encounter at Heathbrook today.

Lichfield's Paul Maxwell-Keys broke through the home defence with just a minute left on the clock to grab victory for his side.

However, the hard-fought contest could have gone either way and offered many positives for director of rugby Carl Douglas, who handed starts to former Stourbridge man Jamie Hearn and South African Edlyn Serge.

DK weathered some early Lichfield pressure before registering the first points of the afternoon after 18 minutes.

New arrival Hearn wasted no time in opening his DK account when he broke through the line in fine style. Kieran Pinches slotted the conversion to edge the home side to a 7-0 lead.

It took Lichfield just three minutes to draw level when Gary Massey went over after the ball was quickly worked wide by the visitors. Luke Massey had the simple task of adding the extras to level the scores.

Despite DK's shakey lineout thoughout the first period, it was Douglas' men that had the opportunity to take a lead into the break. But three times they passed up the chance to add to their score when choosing not to kick the points when awarded penalties within range.

It was a decision that looked even worse when Lichfield secured their second try just two minutes into the second half.

Daniel Rowlands broke two challenges to score under the posts. Massey again added the extras to make it 14-7.

However, in an end-to-end affair, it was then DK's turn to hit back.

Just three minutes later and only five minutes into the second period, Liam Marshall pounded his way to the Lichfield line after the ball was worked out wide to the DK right. He broke through three challenges near the touchline to cut the score to 14-12.

The home side continued to work through the phases well and kept up the pressure on Lichfield's defence.

DK finally regained the lead when Nick Adams chased down his own low kick after 51 minutes.

The score moved to 17-14 but the conversion was again off target, this time with Hearn dragging wide.

Lichfield were level just three minutes later when Massey landed a penalty after DK were penalised for killing the ball.

It looked like the Heathbrook faithful might just have a second victory to celebrate, especially with DK's dominance in the scrum starting to show as the game entered the final ten minutes.

But the scores stayed at 17-17 until Maxwell-Keys' decisive burst as time ran out. Massey landed the conversion to leave DK again frustrated once more.

Dudley Kingswinford: Forbes, Marshall, Hearn, Bayliss, Adams, Pinches, Jones (c), Kelley, Cowdale, Hudson, Serge, Knight, Gordon, Pedley, Hawkins.

Replacements: Parkes, Flides, Jones.

Lichfield: Rowlands, Fielding, Maxwell-Keys, G Massey, Wooton, L Massey, Wedgwood, Gabbitass, Clarke, Taylor, Thompson, Squires, Burton, Turner, Southern.

Replacements: Taplin, J Massey, Clark.