Cinderford RFC completed their pre-season preparations with two victories on consecutive nights at Bell Sports & Rugby Park, defeating Forest neighbours Newent RFC 20โ12 on Thursday before overcoming Hartpury University RFC 32โ21 on Friday evening.
The two fixtures provided Cinderford with contrasting tests and valuable opportunities across the squad before the competitive action gets underway next weekend.
๐๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ ๐ 20 โ 12 ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ ๐
After a day of rain and thunderstorms on Thursday, conditions changed just in time for Cinderfordโs first home pre-season fixture, with the clouds clearing to leave a warm and sunny evening for a healthy crowd at Bell Sports & Rugby Park.
The friendly was played as three 20-minute sessions, giving both sides valuable opportunities to test combinations and get competitive minutes under their belts ahead of the new season.
Cinderford made the brighter start and opened the scoring after five minutes. A scrum close to the Newent try line provided the platform before the ball was worked all the way across the field, where Callum Thompson finished the move to put the home side 5โ0 ahead.
Newent responded well and, on 11 minutes, broke through the Cinderford defence for their first try. The conversion was successful to give the visitors a 7โ5 advantage.
Cinderford thought they had struck back right at the end of the opening 20 minutes when they crossed the line, but the score was ruled out for offside, leaving Newent narrowly ahead at the first break.
The visitors started the second session strongly and applied sustained pressure to the Cinderford defence. Their hard work was rewarded 12 minutes into the second period when Newent crossed for their second try, extending their advantage to 12โ5.
Cinderford responded by taking the game back to their Forest rivals, but some determined defending from the Green Army kept the home side at bay.
That resistance was finally broken in the 19th minute. A Cinderford lineout provided the platform for a powerful driving maul, with Andrew Smyth going over to reduce the deficit and make it Cinderford 10โ12 Newent heading into the final session.
Cinderfordโs forward power became increasingly influential during the closing 20 minutes.
Five minutes into the final period, another strong driving maul carried Cinderford towards the Newent line, with Will Korb touching down to restore the home sideโs lead at 15โ12.
There was still time for one more score, and it came in familiar fashion. Another lineout was turned into an effective Cinderford driving maul and Korb emerged with his second try of the evening, completing the scoring and securing a 20โ12 victory.
It was an encouraging workout for Cinderford, while Newent provided a competitive and determined test throughout the three sessions.
๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐๐ 32 โ 21 ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐
Less than 24 hours later, Cinderford were back in action at Bell Sports & Rugby Park, this time welcoming Hartpury University RFC for the final fixture of their pre-season programme.
Another competitive encounter ended with Cinderford recording a 32โ21 victory, running in six tries in the process.
Brendan Llewelyn, Sam Smith, Jacob Perkins and Sam Baker all crossed for Cinderford, while Tom Samak scored twice. Cormac Saint added one conversion.
With Hartpury contributing three converted tries of their own, the visitors provided Cinderford with another valuable test before the start of the league campaign.
The final whistle brought to an end two busy nights of rugby at the Bell and Cinderfordโs programme of pre-season fixtures.
Reflecting on the preparations, Cinderford Director of Rugby Clive Stuart-Smith said:
โ๐๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ค ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ.
๐๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ.
๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ, ๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐ง๐๐ฑ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ค๐๐ง๐.โ
Cinderfordโs attention now turns to the opening game of the 2026/27 National League 2 West season, when Clifton are the visitors to Bell Sports & Rugby Park on Saturday 5th September, kick-off 3pm.
After two encouraging performances on home soil to complete pre-season, the focus now switches to competitive rugby and the start of a new league campaign.
Photo Credit: Kairos Sports Photography