Cinderford 26 – Newent 10
Cinderford RFC continued their preparations for the new season with a hard-fought victory over local rivals Newent, who provided strong competition throughout the afternoon.
The game was played over three 25-minute sessions, giving both sides the opportunity to test different combinations and build match fitness.
The home side opened the scoring in the first period, when Ben Carpenter powered his way over the line for the opening try.
In the second session, Cinderford extended their advantage with two further tries. Josh Horrobin and Tom Samak both crossed, with Sonny Greenman adding the conversions to give the Cinderford a commanding 19-0 lead.
Newent came out strongly in the final session, responding with their first try of the match. Cinderford replied swiftly when centre Harry Tovey finished a well-taken move and converted his own try to stretch the scoreline once more. The visitors had the final say, however, crossing for a well-deserved second unconverted try before the final whistle.
The contest ended 26-10 in Cinderford’s favour, providing valuable game time and another positive step forward in the team’s pre-season campaign
Head Coach Clive was pleased with what he saw, saying:
“Another good hit out for us against a very physical Newent team.
A step forward from a tactical viewpoint, managing field position far better than our first game.
We created a number of positive opportunities in attack and got through some quality defensive sets.
Valuable minutes for everyone who was available with a number of different combinations put under pressure.
We will now ramp up the intensity in training in preparation for an exciting day for the club on the 30th against what we expect to be a very tough Pontypool squad”.