Cinderford 28 Loughborough Students 12
Dockham Road
Blood is pumping again at Dockham Road as Cinderford revived their survival bid on Saturday afternoon with a nervy but well-executed victory over Loughborough Students in National One.
Results in January and February have been bleak reading for the home faithful after three of the league's big four dumped the Foresters into the relegation zone.
Old Albanian earned a losing bonus-point away to Wharfedale, which keeps their head above water for now. A victory for Cinderford will breed confidence for next Saturday coming however as the Foresters travel to St Albans to take on their nearest rivals in a vital contest.
With a decent end-of-season run-in, this victory is the perfect result for Nic Corrigan's men, who, despite troubling times of late, have braved the misery to complete a well-needed win over Loughborough's university set-up.
The scrum was dominant on Saturday and gave Cinderford the platform to mount their charge throughout. Loughborough fought back in the second 40, however, and had the Foresters on the rails during spells which gave cause for concern after such a bright opening.
Thankfully, Cinderford had enough grit to complete the job although the defensive-line that has been a silver-lining of late was scrambling blind at times.
It held its own by the end and replacements gave Cinderford some more gas. The mud was an issue at times although Cinderford will be grateful to derail Loughborough's train before it could really take flight.
An early James Moffat penalty put Cinderford's motors into motion although it wasn't until almost half-an-hour into this clash that Cinderford really stuck in the knife in.
Five minutes were spared just before Stef Hawley cruised over in the corner for the front-eight to squeeze Loughborough into submission.
The set-piece earned Cinderford kickable points on four occasions before referee Robert Warburton sent the Students' loose-head Harry Elrington to the bin.
There was no chance a penalty-try could be given as the scrum was too far from the try-line. But Cinderford persisted and soon, when Clive Stuart-Smith checked and decided to go open, the gate was raided and Hawley was given the space to round for Cinderford's first.
Moffat converted the winger's scorcher and it wasn't long after that their lead was extended. The ball went fumbling all afternoon as Cinderford piled on the first-half pressure but reliable Mike Wilcox wasn't going to drop the high up and under, climbing big to collect.
The chance was on and Wilcox was wise to see space out right. Moffat pushed Jack Adams into the driving seat with Alex Frame on the overlap. He fumbled but somehow re-gathered while faced with his opposite man before offering a basketball-style off-load to Frame, who glided over.
Sometimes the unorthodox gives the element of surprise.
All was rosy as the Valentine's victory looked on. And the 15-point half-time lead could have been larger if a pass to hooker Luke Cole didn't drift just forward before he went sliding over the whitewash.
The Foresters found themselves in somewhat unfamiliar territory as the half-time entertainment blared from the speakers. Leading at home, the cause was now to consolidate a compounding victory and then search for a try bonus-point that went missing. But when is rugby ever that simple?
Tries from Rhys Owen and then jinking fly-half Will Edwards burst Loughborough into life as the Cinderford line was torn apart. Nine Tom James could only manage to convert one – his second attempt was still hashed and only just had the legs to creep over – but Loughborough were on fire from nowhere.
Two penalties from Moffat steadied the ship but mud and tingling fingers got in the way of more scores for the home side, who fumbled, it has to be said, too many times while on the ascent.
Wilcox was brought crashing to the earth after Loughborough replacement Yiannis Loizias took him out in the air. He was duly sin-binned, a rash effort in the heat of battle which perhaps took the sting out of the contest.
Loughborough searched for a losing bonus-point but it was Cinderford who ended with a flourish. Leo Fielding lifted a nicely-timed dink over a sea of white. The ball bounced perfectly for a change and Wilcox did the rest.
Overall, it wasn't pretty although there were moments of fluidity at times that couldn't quite come to fruition. A win is a win and it was an important one at that – a chance to build momentum with Cinderford circling the plug hole. Hope, finally, has been restored at Dockham Road.
Attendance: 267
Man of the match: Jack Cosgrove
Referee: Robert Warburton
Cinderford team: Mike Wilcox (capt), Alex Frame, Leo Fielding, Jack Adams, Stefan Hawley, James Moffat, Clive Stuart-Smith, Chris Bundy, Luke Cole, Jack Cosgrove, Roger Birkin, Ed King, George Mills, Marcus Brown, George Evans
Replacements: Sam Hanks, Sam Wilkes, Shay Kerry, Dan Fry, Joseph Smart
Tries: Stefan Hawley, Alex Frame, Mike Wilcox
Cons: Moffat 2
Pens: Moffat 1
Loughborough team: Jack Pons, Craig Dowsett , Rhys Owen, Jack Bradford, Sam Pointon, Will Edwards, Tom James, Harry Elrington, Isaac Miller, George Davis, Jacob Albon, Adam Peters, James Hill, James Freeman (capt), Matt Rogerson
Replacements: Jack Singleton, Josh McNulty, Ed Taylor, Gabriel Carroll, Yiannis Loizias
Tries: Rhys Owen, Will Edwards
Cons: Tom James
Sin-bins: Harry Elrington, Yiannis Loizias
