UNITED GET OFF THE MARK WITH NINE-TRY VICTORY! 

A welcome first league victory of the season for Cinderford United, who produced some excellent attacking rugby to overcome a determined Burnham-on-Sea side at Bell Sports & Rugby Park.

After two narrow defeats, United were keen to get their campaign moving in the right direction, and they certainly made their intentions clear from the outset!

Rio Ebanks opened the scoring before Jack Shields and Max Rendall added further tries as United raced into an early lead.

Burnham-on-Sea responded, but the home side continued to find gaps in the visitors’ defence. Will Day added another try before Ebanks crossed twice more to complete an impressive first-half hat-trick.

The second half saw Jack Hall add his name to the scoresheet, but Burnham-on-Sea were far from finished.

The visitors produced a spirited comeback, scoring three unanswered tries and dramatically reducing United’s advantage. Suddenly, a game that had looked comfortably in Cinderford’s control had become a much closer contest.

However, United showed their character when it mattered, with Alfie Roberts crossing twice in the closing stages to secure the victory.

Charlie Stallard also played his part with the boot, adding important conversions throughout the afternoon.

“We’re delighted after two narrow defeats to get our first win in the league this season. We deserved it as we were the better side but again we were reminded of how tough this league is as a very spirited Burnham team staged a second half revival to reduce a 31 point deficit to just 11 points.

“However, we finished strongly which added to our first half performance enabled a much needed win.

“We now have a sound basis going forward and have reset some standards and ethics we feel are non negotiable to be a Cinderford player at any level within the club.

“There’s more to come from the United going forward.”

Nine tries, a first league victory and plenty of positives to build on as United look ahead to their next challenge.