CRFC U16 vs Cirencester U16_County Cup Semi Final
GRFU U16s County Cup – Semi Final
Cinderford RFC U16 20
Cirencester RFC U16 13
Cinderford booked their seventh County Cup Final in eight years with a 20-13 home semi final win over Cirencester at Dockham Road. These two very fine and evenly matched young sides have developed a genuine and great mutual respect for each other over the years, having played in numerous memorable encounters going back to when they were just eight years old, with there rarely being more than a single score to separate them on any occasion, whichever way the results have fallen, and this eagerly anticipated match was no different.
Cinderford got off to a sensational start. Jake Bonser caught the Cirencester kick off to set up a ruck 5 meters in from the right touchline, from which Cinderford picked up to create a solid maul, with Kyle Frowen showing great strength and determination in the thick of it. When the ball was presented back quickly to the Cinderford back line, what followed was a truly stunning passage of play; flat, fast, inch perfect passing, complimented by great handling at pace, saw the ball rapidly fired right the way across the entire Cinderford back line from right to left, through the hands of Charlie Gayther, Jack Hopkins, Liam Littleton and Luke Kell, before reaching Chance Ridler out wide on the left wing. Collecting ball at pace, Ridler showed tremendous positional awareness, strength and pace in carving his way through the Cirencester drift defence before breaking through a narrow gap and outstripping everyone to score under the posts with only 45 seconds gone on the clock. Breathtaking stuff and arguably Cinderford’s finest try of the season to date. Jack Hopkins added the extras to give Cinderford a 7-0 lead and help steady the early nerves for the home side.
Cinderford kept up the early pressure, not letting Cirencester settle into the game in the opening stages and defending well, when called upon, to keep the dangerous Cirencester back row runners in check. Ten minutes in, Ciren were awarded a penalty in front of the Cinderford posts when the home side were penalised for not releasing the ball when tackled, and Ollie Whiting stepped up to dissect the posts with a well struck penalty kick to make it 7-3.
Four minutes later, Cinderford edged further in front. Having initially been penalised, for a not straight throw-in at a line-out deep inside the Cirencester 22, and gifting Cirencester a defensive scrum and the chance to clear their lines, Cinderford then made immediate amends by turning Cirencester over in the loose play that followed. This in turn was followed by another passage of slick handling across the full width of the pitch by Cinderford back line that was finished off when Jack Hopkins sent a perfectly weighted chip kick over the top of the Ciren defence on the left for Chance Ridler to race through and pick up on the bounce to score his second try of the match, this one in the left corner. Superb stuff by the home side. The touchline conversion attempt fell short and the scores remained at 12-3.
Ten minutes later, Cirencester were penalised for not releasing the ball when tackled just inside half-way in a central position and, when vocal frustration by the visitors led to referee Ray Puttock’s decision being challenged, the visitors were marched back 10-meters, putting the penalty within the range of Jack Hopkins, who stepped up to slot an excellent kick through the posts to make it 15-3.
Cirencester fought back hard, testing the Cinderford defence thoroughly towards the end of the first half, and the Cotswold side looked to be heading for a certain score in the right hand corner, but some superb defensive work by Cinderford robbed Ciren of the ball and gave No.10 Hopkins the opportunity to send a great kick downfield and into touch near halfway. Moments later, Matt Masters was unlucky to see his very well struck, long-range penalty kick from just inside half way sail inches past the upright after Ciren were penalised for offside. Cirencester narrowed the gap slightly, to 15-6, when Cinderford conceded a needless penalty for offside at a Cirencester ruck under the posts and Ollie Whiting again stepped up to slot the kick with ease.
Cinderford got off to another great start at the beginning of the second half. Jake Bonser, having an exceptionally effective game in the Cinderford lineout, pinched another Ciren throw-in inside the opposition 22, but some great work by the Ciren forwards turned the ball back over almost immediately. However, when the following box-kick clearance fell to Kyle Frowen, the Cinderford No.8 embarked on a direct, powerhouse run back at Cirencester that drew in the opposition defence and helped to create space out wide for the backs to exploit with another rapid handling move, this time for Luke Kell at outside centre to power over in the right hand corner for an unconverted try, putting Cinderford firmly in the box seat at 20-6.
The next quarter of an hour saw Cirencester take the game increasingly strongly to Cinderford as the Cotswold side fought gamely to get back into contention. Cirencester created two outstanding scoring chances during this period, only for the ball carrier on both occasions to get white line fever when within 5-meters of the Cinderford try line, and with overlaps begging on the outside, only to lose the ball forward in contact at the critical moment. As Ciren continued to press forward, Cinderford’s Jake Bonser made another crucial lineout steal for the Forest side and Sam Morse, in strong support, did superbly at the breakdown to clean up the loose ball. Moments later, more great defensive work by Cinderford near halfway, to counter a powerful charge by Cirencester, saw Cinderford captain Luke Crunden embark on an excellent run back through centre field to regain valuable ground for his team.
Overall, both sides put up tremendous defensive displays throughout, including one memorial, square on tackle by fullback Matt Masters late in the game, but it was Cinderford who had the clear advantage when going forward with the more fluent attacking options at their disposal across the backs. Every time one side threw themselves forward in a positive attacking move, the other side came up with a superb piece of defence work at the critical moment to turn the ball over. Perhaps, one of the more significant examples of this was an outstanding piece of defensive work by Cinderford hooker Sam Morse that prevented the Cirencester ball carrier from grounding the ball having crossed the try line eight minutes into the second period. But, barely a minute later, from the resultant 5-meter scrum, Cirencester’s ever dependable Brendan Musgrave at No.7 smashed through the centre to score under the posts. Ollie Whiting stepped up to add the conversion and bring the visitors back to within a converted score of levelling, at 20-13, with less than two minutes left on the clock.
However, in not dealing cleanly with the Cinderford restart kick and allowing it to bounce into touch for a lineout deep inside their own half, Cirencester all but lost any hope of a dramatic late score that might have swung this game back their way. Cinderford again disrupted the Cirencester lineout trough Jake Bonser and, moments later, the final whistle blew to send Cinderford through as deserved winners to this year’s County Cup Final, to be played on Sunday 25th April at the Prince of Wales Stadium, Cheltenham, where they will meet Hucclecote in a repeat of last year’s final.
C’mon Cinderford!!!!!!!!!
Cinderford jointly awarded their man of the match award to second row Jake Bonser, who had another outstanding game in the lineout and in the loose, and also to Chance Ridler, for his devastating finishing and power play that saw the Cinderford left winger score two crucial first half tries that set up the platform for this Cinderford victory.
Match Report & Photos: Simon Hawkins
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