Cinderford Match Report

Widden Old Boys 0 Cinderford 52

On Sunday Cinderford U14s travelled to Widden Old Boys for a match played in miserably cold, wet, windy conditions. Due to the poor weather, it was agreed the match would comprise of just 20 minutes each way. Cinderford got off to a bright start but spurned an early four man overlap when deep inside the Widden 22. Nevertheless, despite losing the ball forward just short of the posts, when the ball came back out of the Widden 5-meter scrum it was fumbled on the goal line and Cinderford No.6, Matt Hawkins, was quick to pounce and score the opening try after just two minutes, converted by Jack Hopkins. Shortly after the restart Adam Briginshaw made a trademark break up the left wing to outpace the defence and score in the corner to make it 12-0.

Cinderford prop Toby Farrier then went on a storming run, drawing in the Widden defence, before offloading to Liam Littleton who exploited the gap and broke through the centre from 25-yards out, to score a converted try under the posts and take the score to 19-0 with ten minutes played.

Both sides struggled to handle the ball in the miserable conditions over the next few minutes and Widden went close when they hacked a loose ball ahead from half way and gave chase but, an infringement inside the Cinderford 22 gave the visitors the chance to clear their lines and counter.

When Cinderford won a scrum against the head, deep inside the Widden 22, No.8 Chance Ridler burst from the back of the scrum to score a converted try under the posts that took the halftime score to 26-0.

Half Time: Widden Old Boys 0 Cinderford 26

Cinderford ran away with things from the outset of the second period, which started with Jake Bonser catching the restart kick and making excellent ground before passing infield to Tom Ward, who powered through the centre to score at the posts.

Moments later Ward chased down a Cinderford kick ahead, but the Cinderford players sportingly informed referee, who was about to award another try, that the ball had travelled just beyond the dead ball line before being grounded. However, within a minute, Ward went over in the corner following some good work in the build up by Matt Hawkins.

Fullback Adam Wilce made a rapid 40yard break up the right flank, from deep inside his own half, before being brought down inside the Widden 22, whereupon Adam Briginshaw hacked on and raced through to drop on the ball in goal and score. Jack Hopkins converted well in difficult conditions to make it 45-0. Finally, with just over ten minutes of the second half played, Jason Walding picked up a loose ball and broke through from short range to score a try, converted by Jamie Buffrey, to make it 52-0. With the score difference having reached 50+ points the referee blew the whistle early, a decision welcomed by all under the circumstances.