Cinderford edge nearer to safety
CINDERFORD RFC 10 – 7 BLACKHEATH RFC
THIS battle in the Dockham Road mud was always going to be a war of attrition, but Cinderford coach Phil Greenaway was delighted with his side’s performance.
He said: “The effort we showed, especially…
That’s the best so far
CINDERFORD coach Phil Greenaway hailed his side’s win away at Blackheath as ‘the best since he took charge of the club’.
Greenaway has had precious little to smile about of late.
He broke two ribs and punctured a lung during the game at Newbury Blues, which forced him to spend six nights in hospital.
By his own admission he was in a pretty bad way and he is unlikely to play rugby again this season.
On his return to Dockham Road, he watched his side produce a stumbling performance at home to Tynedale.
That loss left Cinderford among the bottom three, facing a scrap for league survival, but Saturday’s performance blew the grey skies away.
“We stuck to our guns and changed a few things around for the game at Blackheath,” said Greenaway.
“We gave the players a bit more licence to manage the game themselves and I thought we played some outstanding rugby.
“Defensively, we were superb and our tackle count went through the roof. I was also pleased with how we played at the breakdowns. We didn’t give away any turnovers.”
Half-backs Danny Pointon and Paul Knight were key men for Cinderford, but Greenaway believes the midfield presence of Dave Knight enabled them to control things better.
He also saluted the goal-kicking of Brett Turner, saying “Brett knocked over some crucial ones, including a couple from the touchlines. It made a big difference.”
He went on: “We had two men in the sin-bin and didn’t always get the rub of the green.
“Apart from the Tynedale game and Esher away, we’ve competed really well in most games this season.
“We should have won against both Nuneaton and London Scottish, we lost 3-0 to Newbury and Wharfedale beat us with the last kick of the game.
“We’ve got a decent bunch of lads and their commitment is outstanding.”
Source:thisisgloucestershire
Cinderford return to winning ways
BLACKHEATH 18 CINDERFORD 27
CINDERFORD ended a run of four consecutive defeats in National One with a much-needed success at Blackheath for their second win on the road this season.
The Foresters have now won just as many games away from Dockham Road as they have at home, as the victory moved them up to 13th position.
The Rectory Field crowd could see how much the result meant to the Gloucestershire side with some heroic defending keeping the hosts out.
Blackheath were camped on Cinderford’s goal-line for the final dying moments but the visitors’ sheer will to keep out their opponents eventually prevailed.
In April, Cinderford produced their best performance of last season when they battered Blackheath 41-14 and it proved to be a happy hunting ground once again for them.
Cinderford had built up an impressive 20-6 lead before Blackheath’s replacements came on and nearly robbed the away side of the win.
Cinderford full-back Brett Turner kicked two successful penalties to give his side the lead, but they were matched by Blackheath’s kicker Paul Humphries to level it up.
But Cinderford stepped up their game and got the all-important scores either side of half-time.
Fly-half Danny Pointon led his side well from behind the scrum and a number of phases created a chance for second row Dave Bufton to breach the stretched Blackheath defence.
Turner added the conversion to lead on 35 minutes and then after the break number eight Mike Panaho was helped over the line by his mauling forwards.
Turner again added two more points for a 14-point cushion.
The Blackheath substitutes then injected some impetus on the hour mark.
They were rewarded straightaway with a penalty try after Cinderford infringed at a scrum.
Then 10 minutes later Blackheath’s pack again got the better of their counterparts and they were pushed over the goal-line but the ball was knocked on.
Richard Paddick did score a try from a charged down kick but the crucial conversion, which would have levelled the scores, was missed.
Cinderford’s defence then held firm during the deluge and skipper Paul Knight had the last word with another converted try.
BLACKHEATH: White; Moan, Windsor, Hamilton, Smith; Humphries, Gava; Legg, O’Mera, Brett; Bason, Dewale; Pike, Allen, Jones. Replacements: Knight, Winwood, Paddick, Ibrahim, Lankshear.
CINDERFORD: Turner; Winterbottom, D Knight, Scourfield, Winchle; Pointon, P Knight; Duncan, Deacon; Bufton, King; Nicholls, McNeil, Panaho. Replacements: Smart, Hall, Foden, Boston, Wilcox.
Star man: Danny Pointon
Source: thisisgloucestershire
Foresters changing approach for Blackheath
CINDERFORD head coach Phil Greenaway is hoping a change in coaching style will pay dividends at Blackheath tomorrow.
The Foresters are being encouraged to run with the ball more instead of playing for territory in the hope they can end their run of four straight defeats.
In April, Rectory Field was the setting for Cinderford’s best performance of the season when they trounced their opponents 41-14, and Greenaway is hoping for a repeat showing.
“We have changed a few things for this week from a coaching point,” Greenaway said. “We want to keep the ball in hand more rather than playing for territory and we would rather go down fighting having played some good rugby.
“We did not really start playing until the last five minutes last week against Tynedale and there was only one offload and that is what we want to do more of.
“We are working hard to turn it around not just post Christmas but before Christmas as well.”
Greenaway will be missing from the side as he continues to recover from his punctured lung and rib injury but promising second row Danny Wright (pictured, right) is back from England Under-20s duty.
However, he may be involved for Gloucester A against Bath A on Monday night and be restricted to bench duty as may young fly-half Mike Wilcox.
But full-back/centre Dave Knight is continuing his return to the team and will be again in contention as will brother Paul who is coming back from a knee injury.
Six-try Cinderford destroy Blackheath
BLACKHEATH 14 v CINDERFORD 41
CINDERFORD won their fourth consecutive away match at Blackheath, snatching sixth place from their National Two opponents.
The Foresters ran riot in south east London, scoring six tries and securing a bonus point by half-time.
A disturbing injury to their full-back, Danny Trigg, threatened to mar the entertaining encounter, but quick-thinking physio Claire Wozencroft swiftly prevented any serious danger.
Fly-half Tim Stevenson began the rout after two minutes when he sold Blackheath’s defence a dummy and scored, with Trigg adding another two.
Cinderford’s good defence was finally breached 13 minutes later when Blackheath scrum-half Ben Ibrahim picked up and dived over from a ruck on the Foresters’ try-line and Tom White converted.
But it was one-way traffic after that, with Cinderford scoring 34 unanswered points, beginning with the pick of the lot from Dave Knight five minutes later.
From a scrum in Blackheath’s 22, Jaike Carter arrived at speed before superbly flicking the ball to Stevenson, who passed inside to the on-rushing Knight to score. Trigg converted.
Trigg added a penalty nine minutes later after Blackheath number eight Gareth Jones was sin-binned for cynically tripping and preventing Paul Knight from starting another attack at a ruck.
Cinderford grew in confidence with every wave of attacks and they began securing quick ball.
It resulted in Rob Fidler going over two minutes before half-time from yards out. However, Trigg missed.
Just before the whistle, Stevenson’s inside pass put hooker Nigel Matthews under the posts for the bonus point and Trigg added another two going into the break.
Paul Knight then bulldozed through the tackles from halfway line two minutes into the second period, but Trigg was unsuccessful with the conversion.
On the hour, Trigg collided with Blackheath’s defenders chasing his own kick, but received fast medical attention and departed with 11 points and a relieved round of applause.
It was then Dewi Scourfield’s turn to smash through the tacklers and score Cinderford’s final try after 65 minutes, giving substitute Freddie Burns an easy conversion.
With time winding down, Ibrahim broke down the blind side from a five-metre scrum near Cinderford’s line and stretched out an arm in the corner to score, with Matt Leek converting.
BLACKHEATH: S Legg, L Wordley, D Brett, N Dewale, A Vanner, J Catt, K Aseme, G Jones, B Ibrahim, M Leek, S Smith, R Windsor, S Hamilton, S Moan, T White. Replacements: J Knight, N Winwood, C York, M Olima, L Amzaley.
CINDERFORD: P Kennedy, N Matthews, A Deacon, R Fidler, M Cornwell, A Nicholls, M Brown, G Evans, P Knight, T Stevenson, J Carter, D Scourfield, D Knight, J Copsey, D Trigg. Replacements: S Knight, A Duncan, T Wilson, F Burns, D Wright.
Article courtesy of www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk
