CRFC U16 vs Dursley U16_Qtr Final County Cup_14Mar2010
(Gallery photos to follow shortly)
GRFU U16s County Cup – Quarter Final
Cinderford RFC U16 17
Dursley RFC U16 7
Cinderford progressed to the Semi Finals 
of this year’s U16s County Cup competition with a hard fought 17-7 win over a plucky and determined Dursley side at Dockham Road. Cinderford always looked the more dangerous side in open play and had a significant overall territorial advantage in the game but Dursley’s commitment in defence kept the result in the balance virtually to the end.
The Dursley pack had an outstanding game, especially in the tight five, who looked to impose themselves up front, although Cinderford had the superior back row where No.7, Luke Crunden in particular put in some big tackles. Where Dursley were at their most effective was at the set piece scrum, where their smaller and 
technically excellent props got underneath their opposite numbers in the Cinderford front row, causing real problems for the home side. On the other hand, where Cinderford held significant advantage was across their quicker and more fluent back line and the aggression of their hard running, hard hitting centres, especially Luke Kell. Even so, Cinderford really could have run away with this game on the scoreboard, had their backs opted to use the huge width of the Dockham Road pitch more to their advantage at times, instead of running the ball back infield and into the congested forwards areas.
Cinderford got off to a flying start, stamping their authority on the game early and scoring two unconverted tries in the opening ten minutes. The first try came after Dursley were penalised for not binding at a scrum inside the Cinderford half; Matt Master sent a booming kick to touch downfield for a Cinderford lineout that was cleaning collected by Adam Wilce and cycled across field where, from a ruck 15-meters from the Dursley try line, second row Jake Bonser sprinted up the blindside to go over at the corner flag. Jack Hopkins’ touchline conversion attempt fell short; 5-0.
Cinderford scored their second try just three minutes later, again following a penalty kick to touch and clean lineout ball by the home side that, on this occasion, set up a superb 20-meter driving maul by the Cinderford forwards finished off by Cinderford’s man of the match and scrum-half, Sam Baker who broke from the back and jinked through the backpedalling defence to give Cinderford an early 10-0 lead. Jack Hopkins conversion attempt drifted narrowly wide in the strong breeze and the score remained at 10-0.
Dursley fought back hard and had the
better of the final fifteen minutes of the first half, scoring a converted try just before the interval. Dursley were awarded a penalty just to the right of the posts but the kick arced way wide of the left upright and was collected safely in-goal by Cinderford. However, inexplicably, instead of dapping the ball down for a 22 drop-out a blood rush to the brain saw Cinderford run the ball back into play and straight into heavy traffic where it was lost forward in contact and driven straight back at Cinderford by the Dursley forwards, putting pressure, needlessly and immediately, back on Cinderford on their own 5-meter line. From a subsequent scrum, the Dursley forwards combined well and drive over the line for try 5-meters to the right of the posts, which, when converted put Dursley right back into this game at 10-7 just before half time.
Cinderford came out more focused in the second half, stretching the opposition defence with their improved handling and pace across the backs, but Dursley’s defence was superb and the visitors managed to turn the ball over at critical moments, including two occasions where the Cinderford ball carrier was held up on the try and Dursley then regrouped to secure their defensive lines and clear the ball forward.
With the game still finely balanced on the scoreboard, Cinderford pressed hard for a winning score and the final quarter of the match was played almost entirely in the Dursley half. The game was effectively closed out when Chance Ridler broke through a gap from 10-meters out and crossed the Dursley try line at a canter two minutes before full time. Jack Hopkins added the conversion to make it 17-7, a gap of two clear scores, with barely 90 seconds left on the clock.
This incredibly hard fought win secures Cinderford a home semi final game against Cirencester on 28th March.
Match Report & Photos: Simon Hawkins
…..
March 24, 2010
