There was late heartbreak for Cinderford at the Darlington Arena as their hosts Darlington Mowden Park scored a length of the field try to snatch a dramatic victory, with the final play of the match.
The first half gave little insight into the drama that would follow as the home team had the better the game territorially but were unable to breakthrough a stubborn and well-organised Cinderford defence. Josh Ree was on target with a couple of penalties for the home side, with Joe Winfield kicking a solitary reply for the visitors to make it 6-3 at the interval.
Winfield levelled the scores early in the second half with his second successful kick, before DMP looked to have taken control of the match when they scored two converted tries in a five-minute spell both of which were scored by centre Harry Yates, with Ree adding the extras. However, Cinderford roared back into contention with two tries of their own to level the scores at 20 all after 75 minutes. First to score was Nathan Taylor from perfectly executed driving maul, then a well-weighted kick ahead from Winfield saw Joe Langbridge gather and score, with Winfield landing both conversions.
The final stages of the match were incredibly tense and when Cinderford were awarded a penalty on the half-way line Winfield had the chance to snatch it, but his kick at goal just drifted wide and with DMP opting to run the ball back an exchange of passes released Ree who sprinted clear for the winning score.
Cinderford; Joe Langbridge, Stan Norman, Will Baldwin, Jamie Forrester, Will Hendy, Joe Winfield, Tom Knight, Harry Edwards, Tom Anderson, James Elliot, Dan Hodge, Callum Thompson, Dec Fissenden, Joe Mullis, Tyler Jerrum (Capt.)
Repls; Joe Smart, Nathan Taylor, Jonny Holliday, Jimmy Williams, Tom Samak.