Cinderford Match Report

Cinderford 55 Berry Hill 5

In a match played on a superb Dockham Road surface, Cinderford U14s first match of the new season saw them run away with a nine tries to one victory over local rivals Berry Hill, but the scoreline did not tell the full story.



Berry Hill got off to a very bright start and caught Cinderford napping when they ran in a thoroughly deserved opening try near the posts in only the fourth minute, having put Cinderford under pressure right from the kick-off. The solidly kicked conversion attempt was unfortunate to strike the upright and deflect away.



Cinderford looked out of sorts from the start and this opening try by the visitors was clearly the early wake up call required to kick start their season. Three minutes later, Liam Littleton emerged from a maul in the visitors 22 to go over for the score equalling try and four minutes after that, Toby Farrier crashed over the line from a 5m tap penalty to give Cinderford the lead.


A good run from deep by Jake Bonser started the move that saw fullback Adam Wilce accelerate away up the right touchline from just inside his own half to outpace the Berry Hill cover defence before cutting infield and scoring under the posts. Minutes later it was another Adam, this time Adam Briginshaw, who turned on the pace up the right wing to finish well in the corner and close the first half with Cinderford leading 22-5.

Half Time : Cinderford 22 Berry Hill 5

The second half saw Cinderford run in five unanswered tries, including two from Tom Ward and two from Chance Ridler, both through powerful running that probed the steadily increasing gaps in the visitors defence.



Despite the scoreline, it was clear on this performance there is still a good deal of off-season rust to nock off before this U14s team can claim to be playing anywhere near to potential.



Slow support play at the break down coughed up too much turn over ball and the temptation to take the ball back infield when there were pace men a plenty on the outside, brought too many passages of play to a premature end. Nevertheless, there were a number of creditable performances on the day. Matt Hawkins had a solid match in the back row in his first match as U14s Captain and Rhys Gardner, playing his debut match for Cinderford, also put in a fine performance at scrum half, grabbing a debut try into the bargain. In the bright but breezy conditions Jack Hopkins kicked four from six conversion attempts whilst Ryan Walding notched 1 from 2.