Cinderford Match Report

Lydney 6 Cinderford 15

A BUMPER holiday crowd of between 2-3,000 saw visitors Cinderford complete a rare seasonal double over their rivals from Regentsholme.

Lydney ran their high-flying opponents close and, if they had taken their chances, could have caused an upset.

Cinderford dominated for the opening 10 minutes of the match and wouldn't let Lydney out of their half.

Slowly, however, Lydney edged their way back into the match.

A magnificent break by openside flanker Dean Jenkins took him to within five metres of the Cinderford line. He was one-on-one with Cinderford full-back Danny Trigg, but Trigg hauled down his man with a try-saving tackle.

Adam Westall missed a drop-goal attempt but kept probing for the hosts. Disaster struck for Westall though when he tried to chip and run a promising attack. The ball fell loose to Cinderford's exciting new winger Henry Trinder, who showed his class by sprinting virtually the entire length of the left touchline for a breathtaking score. Trinder's pace is electric and he was a threat to Lydney all afternoon. Tristan Roberts kicked the conversion to make it 7-0.

Adam Westall cut the deficit with a 25th minute penalty, but Cinderford seized the inititative again and their pack soon had Lydney back-pedalling towards their own line. Phil Kennedy emerged from a pile of bodies with the ball and a pushover score.

Roberts missed the conversion but kicked a penalty to make it 15-3.

Westall had a couple of chances to strike back, surprisingly falling short with one mid-range effort, before landing the second. That made it 15-6 to Cinderford at the break.

Half Time : Lydney 6 Cinderford 15

Lydney came out strongly for the second-half and drove Cinderford back under their own posts.

They exerted great pressure but the Cinderford defence stood up to all tests.

A scrappy period followed, in which Lydney's Dave Emery and Cinderford's Chris McNeil were sin-binned, but Cinderford went closest to scoring again when Dewi Scourfield charged down a Craig Jones clearance kick. He was just unable to gather the ball up at the crucial moment.

Lydney returned to the Cinderford line, but more magnificent defending kept them out. By now, the Severnsiders were running out of ideas, although it needed one outstanding Isaiah Young tackle to deny Craig Jones after he had jinked his way through several tackles.

Ben Slatter was sin-binned as Cinderford ended the game on top.

Lydney were brave and gave everything, but Cinderford always looked more threatening with ball in hand and had that extra bit of class and guile.

Men of the match: Henry Trinder (Cinderford) and Dave Emery (Lydney).

Lydney: Craig Jones, Andy Macrae, Chris Holder, Lee Johnson, Charlie Vine, Adam Westall, Jimmy Williams, Bennett Smith, Ben Lewis, Steve Price, Jimmy Roberts, Paul Kiely (capt), James Matthews, Dean Jenkins, Dave Emery. Reps: Lee Thomas, Roy Davies, James Bashford, Ben Slatter.

Cinderford: Danny Trigg, Mike Hart, Toby Wilson, Dewi Scourfield, Henry Trinder, Tristan Roberts, Will Merrivale, Phil Kennedy, Nigel Matthews, Andy Deacon, James Ciaburro, Mark Cornwell, Jed Hooper, Chris McNeil, Isaiah Young (capt). Reps: Jake Meadows, Matt Deacon, Phil Greenaway, George Evans.