Cinderford RFC U16s vs St. Mary’s Old Boys RFC U16s

Cinderford RFC U16           20

St. Mary’s OB RFC U16       15

Cinderford RFC U16s powered their way to a commanding 20-0 lead inside the first 30minutes over visitors St. Mary’s Old Boys of North Bristol on Sunday.  Cinderford put St. Mary’s on the back foot from the start, dominating the forwards exchanges and set pieces, which took their visitors somewhat by surprise. The opening try came in the seventh minute after a period of sustained pressure.  Cinderford crossed the line moments earlier but were held up in goal, forcing a 5m scrum from which No 8 Kyle Frowen burst through to score.  Matt Masters’ conversion attempt struck the outside of the upright to leave the score at 5-0.

St. Mary’s rallied and pulled back three points from a penalty after Cinderford were penalised for not releasing.  Cinderford then turned up the heat.  Outside half, Matt Master popped a timed pass into the path of Kyle Frowen in the centre of the park, just inside the Cinderford half, Frowen spotted a gap in the St Mary’s defence and burst through at an angle before straightening his line and offloading to Liam Littleton on his outside.  Littleton showed a good turn of pace and sold a dummy to the defence before popping the ball to winger, Tom Ward in support. Ward was brought down 7meters out but Cinderford were in quick support and recycled the ball at the ruck where prop Toby Farrier picked up and crashed his way through the defence to score and make it 10-3.  For the second time in the match, Matt Masters’ conversion attempt rebounded back off an upright.

Cinderford showed good pace and handling in scoring their third try from a move started and finished by Chance Ridler.  Having picked up the loose ball knocked forward by St. Mary’s near the Cinderford 22, Ridler exchanges passes with players on his outside on the left wing before spring up the touchline and turning on the after burners to edge past the last man in defence for St Mary’s and score in the left corner.  The conversion attempt went across face of goal and the score remained 15-3 to the Forester side.

In midweek, this Cinderford U16s side saw 13 of its 30 strong squad go through to the final selection stages of Gloucestershire County U16s, of which 11 players have made the final cut and been selected by the County, the largest representation of any single club in the county and a great credit to this outstanding team.

The Cinderford pack was immense and the home side’s fourth try came after St. Mary’s found no answer to the sustained physical onslaught of the Cinderford forwards. The front row combination of Jake Drinkwater, Niall “Beanie” Spencer and Toby Farrier, plus second row of Jake Bonser and Josh Lee, and a back row comprising of Lewis Overthrow, Kyle Frowen and Luke Crundon boasts 6 County squad members, who dominated at the set piece, particularly the scrum.  Having drawn in the opposition defence in numbers to defend at a ruck under the St. Mary’s posts, Cinderford moved the ball right and into the path of Luke Kell at centre who barged over for a try near the corner.  Incredibly, Matt Masters struck a conversion attempt against the face of an upright for the third time in this match, and the score remained at 20-3.

St. Mary’s threw everything into attack from the restart in a desperate attempt to get back into this game and showed some excellent handling of their own struck with two quick tries, one converted, at a time when Cinderford were rotating squad members to pull back to 20-15.  Despite conceding these quick points, Cinderford never really looked to be any real danger and put St. Mary’s on the back foot again quickly afterwards.  A storming run through the centre by Lewis Overthrow, who was brought down short of the line, forced the St. Mary’s defence to rally quickly and clear the ball.  Unfortunately, moments after the ensuing ruck, the St. Mary’s outside half, who had put in three big defensive hits in quick succession shortly beforehand, collapsed on the pitch and required paramedic attention before being ambulanced to hospital with suspected concussion.

As a result, and with the player receiving treatment on the pitch, this exciting match that had been brimming to a climax, was rightly abandoned with 20minutes still to play, Cinderford claiming a thoroughly deserved win.

All at Cinderford extend their best wishes for a speedy recovery to the St. Mary’s outside half and look forward with great anticipation to the next encounter between these two fine rugby sides.

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