Goals from captain Dan Lomas, Luke Childs and Jack Edwards were enough to supplement a disciplined performance in another win for Lichfield City over Romulus.
Unbeaten in 10, City went into the game on an incredible winning streak, victorious in their last five games on home soil, including a 4-1 win against Romulus two weeks ago in the FA Vase.
Ivor Green made 3 changes to his starting 11 after last weekend’s away win at Studley, Keiran Francis, Cameron Dunn and Liam Kirton all coming into the fold while regular-starter Lewi Burnside dropped to the bench.
Joe Haines hoofed the ball out of the stadium inside the first 30 seconds of the contest, which forced the referee to call for another ball and set the tone for the dogged 90 minutes that followed.
City were forced onto the back foot early on by Romulus, the away side’s flamboyant forward Islia Marsilia looked dangerous in the opening stages.
Despite the early pressure, Lichfield took the lead just 10 minutes in, from the second of two back-to-back corners, the ball headed in by Lomas.
City nearly doubled their lead soon after as a ball in from Francis flew just inches too high for Edwards to nod in at the back post.
Despite a positional change, Childs looked solid on the left side of Green’s back four, as Romulus deployed attack after attack down their right flank.
A scramble on the goal line nearly resulted in Lichfield finally securing a two-goal cushion, but the ball was quickly smothered by Romulus’ Lewis Williams in goal.
At the other end of the pitch, Haines and his central defensive partner Jamie Elkes were both busy as Romulus grew into the second half. Haines was forced to clear the ball high over his own cross bar, as he intercepted a threatening low ball into the six-yard box.
Despite several late efforts from Romulus, Lichfield City managed to hold on to their one goal lead at the half time break.
Midfield maestro Dominic Lewis was substituted on by Green at half time to maintain the pressure on the away side.
Childs finally scored Lichfield’s second after 53 minutes. He took the ball short from a corner on the right and drove across the box before firing his shot into the bottom left corner of the Romulus goal.
Prolific number nine Daniel Smith nearly netted his seventeenth goal of the season, breaking forward from half-way, collecting a ball over the top from the back. The contesting Romulus defender did just enough to knock Smith off balance, who’s shot blazed just wide of the near post.
Both sides continued to battle it out until the final whistle, but it was Lichfield who always had the upper hand for the majority of the second half.
Edwards bagged a third goal in the 85th minute to seal the victory for his side. Haines placed his free kick directly into Edwards’ path for him to head into the bottom left corner.
The referee’s whistle finally confirmed the 3-0 win, as Lichfield added another three points to their season total.
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