Cinderford RFC got the pre-season underway in style today with their first friendly match of the season against Narberth RFC. The atmosphere was electric, thanks to a fantastic turnout from supporters who filled the stands with cheers, chants, and non-stop energy. It was a perfect way to christen the new 3G pitch, and the team felt every bit of the support pushing them forward on the field.
It was a solid start to the pre-season, with the players getting valuable minutes and the coaching staff able to assess fitness, form, and combinations ahead of the competitive season. The enthusiasm from the crowd made it clear: this is just the beginning, and the club hopes the same energy continues throughout the pre-season.
Two games against Welsh Premiership side Narberth on their new 3G pitch saw the first match end in a 24-14 win for the visitors, with Joe Mullis and Will Anderson scoring tries for the home team, both of which were converted by Luke McMahon.
The second game saw the Cinderford team playing some exciting running rugby to secure a 52-7 victory, with tries from Oli Fitzpatrick, Dan Nicholls, Alex Bosworth, James Kear, Jed Soper and Charlie Yip. Harry Tovey scored two tries and kicked six conversions to give him 22 points in the match.
Next up, the team faces Newent RFC at home on Thursday evening, 7pm KO. Let’s turn up the volume even more and make the stadium shake!
Head Coach Clive said:
“It was a successful day. We achieved our objective of all senior players fit and available getting a decent number of minutes in their preferred position.
Both sides of the ball, there were a number of positives and as expected plenty of areas to improve with it being our first hit out from a collision perspective.
The opposition tested us physically throughout and there will be some sore bodies tomorrow.
It’s a quick turnaround this week with our next fixture against Newent on Thursday night and we expect to take another step forward as a group”.
The team looks forward to seeing the supporters back in full voice on Thursday – let’s keep the momentum going!