Cinderford U 14s ..15 V Keynsham U 15s ..5

Cinderford U14s overcame a spirited Keynsham side 15 – 5 in a mud fest the Bridge ground , with puddles all over the pitch Keynsham started well with their fullback making a superb 60 yard break only a great tackle by Aj Jenkins kept him out , the game developed quickly into a forward battle with the Foresters just edging the contest , flanker Matt Allcock had a great game tackling and working hard  to turn over a lot of the oppositions ball , but despite  his best efforts Keynsham  scored first with their winger running through  and around several weak tackles to score .The front five  of Morgan , Turley and Hopkins , with locks Johnson and Hopwood working tirelessly to push Keysham off most scrums giving a good platform for attack

 

Playing down the slope Cinderford started well with good runs from wingers Skelton and Pearson,  The forward were going well with Jordan Hopwood outstanding in the rucks , Flanker Kemp left the field with a blood injury allowing Harry Johnson to move from Centre to back row , he was soon involved making a good turn over that allowed No8 Jack Shields to bundle his way over .Keysham rallied well trying to use the wind to pin the Foresters back , fullback Jenkins fielded everything that was kicked his way and ran the ball back making  huge ground on every occasion in a superb all round display ..The pressure was kept on the visitors when rangy lock March powered over to take the lead , The Keynsham lads battled back with  some good forward play  however   an incident at the ruck saw Cinderford prop Rhys Hopkins and the Keynsham flanker take 10 minutes in the sin bin

 

From a long kick down field by fly half Charlie Davis Cinderford chased hard and turned the ball over ,  a good move off the scrum put centre Robson Skipsey over in the corner . with 15 minutes to go replacement winger Matt Wilce was called up to make two try saving tackles , taking down players twice his size  with text book tackles …  , it was good to see some of the boys returning from injury to take part and strengthen the side over the coming week .

 

The game was excellently refereed by Charlie Gayther

 

Cinderford U 14s Tony Turley , Nathan Morgan ,Jordan Hopwood, Andrew Johnson, Harry Johnson, Jack Shields , Reece Hopkins, Matt Allcock, Andrew Hoult, Sam Jackson ,Charlie Davis  ,Mitch Skelton,Guy Pearson, AJ Jenkins, Adam Marsh , Matt Wilce .Zac Miles , Robson Skipsey,Henry Newchap,William Kemp ,

Cinderford captain Knight confident of return

CINDERFORD captain Paul Knight is confident of being fit for their National One clash with Tynedale at Dockham Road tomorrow.

Scrum-half Knight has been absent for the last three weeks because of a knee injury and missed the Foresters’ 25-21 defeat to Stourbridge and 3-0 loss at Newbury Blues.

But the former Birmingham and Solihull captain is hoping to be in contention for this week against a side nine points ahead of them in ninth.

“It is not too bad, I will have a fitness test on it but I had said three weeks originally,” Knight said.

“On Tuesday I did some running in straight lines but it is a lot different when you are twisting and turning in the rain but I am pretty confident of being fit.”

After a poor start to the season, during which they lost their first five games, Cinderford appeared to be back on track after chalking up three straight wins.

But they have now lost three matches in a row and sit 14th out of 16 teams.

Nearly all of the rugby leagues up and down the country took a break from playing last weekend and Knight says it should have done the Cinderford players some good.

“It is maybe a good thing because all the boys can recover if they have any little knocks,” he added.

“They can sit back and have a think about why we are in this situation and what we need to do and have a look at the table and if we can just get back to training and get back to basics.

“We know we should be winning these games but we just have to actually go out and win them.”

With Knight likely to return this week the same can not be said for head coach Phil Greenaway who had been playing well at fly-half.

Greenaway suffered two broken ribs and a punctured lung against Newbury and Knight will be glad to see him back, albeit in the dugout.

“Phil is not doing too bad now, I went up to see him last week and he is out of hospital,” Knight said.

“He should be back on the sidelines but I do not think he will play again for the rest of this season because he was in a pretty bad way.”

Academy plans for Cinderford

CINDERFORD rugby officials insist their 10-year deal with the Co-op will make them the envy of rugby clubs up and down the country.

Club officials say they have grown tired of being promised brighter tomorrows, at a time when even some of the biggest names in club rugby are struggling financially.

They’ve therefore opted to sidestep the chance of a move to a state-of-the-art ground at St White’s Farm in order to stabilise their place among the top 40 rugby clubs in the country. Club president Peter Bell said: “Utopia doesn’t exist, we’re dealing with realities.

“This deal sustains us for 10 years at least. If you went to any rugby club chairman, president or treasurer and guaranteed them a slug of cash like this, they’d bite your hand off. We’re in a very fortunate position.”

The rugby club board received unanimous backing from its members before agreeing to the new Co-op deal.

Cinderford Rugby Club plan to use some of the money they will get off the Co-op to launch their own rugby academy. That could mean extending the coaching set-up (with the possibility of more paid roles) and being much more proactive in going out and finding local talent.

Their Dockham Road ground, which was built in 1976, will also be revamped and modernised.

Changing rooms, parking facilities, perimeter fencing and the grandstand will be key areas for development, because they have been allowed to deteriorate during the last decade of uncertainty.

The club has not ruled out investing in their second and third grounds at The Bridge and Listers Field, which both lack on-site changing quarters.

Mr Bell added: “We won’t be throwing money at wages for new players.”

Cinderford chairman Rob Worgan refuted suggestions that the club was now compromising its long-term ambitions by turning its back on the dream move.

He said: “Compromise is not the right word. The management board was worried that it would never go through. This is not a compromise, more an alternative.

“Ideally, we would like all our facilities on one site but there comes a time when you have to be realistic.

“The Tesco deal was not deliverable because of the access issue.”

Club treasurer Barry Holmes said he had given 15 years of his life to the Tesco negotiations and would be ‘glad to see the back of it all’.

He added: “The beauty of this is that we retain our biggest asset. We still own our Dockham Road ground.”

Cinderford searching for players with the X Factor

CINDERFORD Rugby Club have appointed a full-time community coach, to go into local schools and find the homegrown stars of tomorrow.

First-team player Mike Panoho took up the position three weeks ago.

He already works five-days-a-week as a rugby instructor/talent scout and is currently doing sessions at St John’s-on-the-Hill in Tutshill, Newnham and Newent Community School, as well as Forest View and Heywood in Cinderford.

Mike says that if schools in Lydney, Drybrook or Berry Hill want him, he’ll go there too.

He said: “It’s a bold step for the club to take but I think it’ll be a great success.

“It’s about promoting the game of rugby more than anything else.

“I want to build links with the schools and, yes, develop players for Cinderford. However, I think other clubs are also going to benefit if I can help provide curriculum-time rugby training for kids.”

Panoho, 33, only joined Cinderford as a player this season, having previously captained Dings Crusaders.

He has also played for Clevedon and Pertemps Bees.

Originally from New Zealand, he represented Waikoto in his home country. He also has strong Australian links and played for the Junior Wallabies and the Australian Army.

Opportunities in Cinderford’s first-team have so far been limited, but he insists home fans haven’t seen the best of him.

“I had a knee injury at the start of the season and it’s taken a while to get fit,” he said.

“I’ve not really had a lot of continuity.”

Source: thisisgloucestershire

Cinderford RFC U16s vs Pil Harriers RFC U16s (Newport)_22nd November 2009

 

Cinderford RFC U16           53

 

Pil Harriers RFC U16           7

 

Cinderford RFC U16s overcame Pil Harriers RFC U16s of Newport by nine tries to one in a convincing 53-7 home win, played in occasionally miserable weather conditions at Cinderford Bridge.  Remarkably, all nine of Cinderford’s tries came from different players, which were also spread equally between the forwards(4) and backs(5). 

 Luke Crundon, Lewis Overthrow, Jake Drinkwater and Kyle Frowen all scored for the forwards, whilst Sam Watkins, Matt Masters, Jack Hopkins, Tom Ward and Jack Richards each scored for the backs, with Matt Masters(1/3), Jack Hopkins(2/2) and James Hadley(1/1) adding the extras.

Cinderford’s first try came after Sam Baker cleaned up loose ball at a lineout and Cinderford went on the attack through Luke Kell and then Kyle Frowen before a thumping charge by props Toby Farrier and Jake Drinkwater seriously tested the Pil defence, forcing a penalty on the right.  Sam Watkins took the tap penalty and fired the ball infield to No.10 Matt Master who sprinted around the stretched defence to score in the left corner.

 

 

Shortly afterwards a collision between players resulted in Pil’s No.5 having to leave the field with a suspected broken nose.  Pil did not have any forward replacements, so Matt Hawkins, normally found at No.6 for Cinderford, came on to play almost two thirds of the game in the second row for Pil and had a fine game.

 

 

Pil showed great team spirit and commitment, particularly in defence in the first half.  The visitors got onto the score sheet in the nineteenth minute following persistent penalties by Cinderford conceded valuable yardage and Pil took full advantage through their No.10, Dale Landers, who darted through from 7-meters out to score at the posts and followed up with the conversion to edge Pil into a slender 5-7 lead.  

 

Where Pil occasionally struggled was in attempting to contain Cinderford’s strong running forwards, who showed some excellent handling skills and offloads and also used the rolling maul to particularly good effect throughout this match.  Unfortunately, the scrums were uncontested from the start, as Pil were unable to field a full compliment of specialist front row players, which somewhat depowered Cinderford’s normally very effective scrummaging as a weapon.  Cinderford quickly regained the lead through some sustained power play by their forwards, who kept the ball alive and continually recycled from deep inside their own half, powering to the Pil 5meter line, where scrum half Sam Watkins retrieved the ball from a ruck and popped it into the path of openside flanker Luke Crundon, who crashed through the opposition defence to score.  Jack Hopkins converted to put Cinderford back in front at 12-7.

 

Minutes later, Jake Bonser stole a Pil lineout near half way, setting up another forwards drive, this time to within 10-meters of the Harriers try line. When the ball came back out, Sam Watkins fired it quickly to Sam Hatton at centre, who was tap tackled in his attempt to breach the Pil defence but managed to pop the ball up neatly off the deck to outside half Matt Masters, who fired a quick pass to Tom Ward on his outside, for Ward to race through and score in the left corner.  Masters then added the extras with a fine touchline conversion in the wind, stretching Cinderford’s lead to 19-7.

 

Sam Baker and Sam Watkins combined well in a blindside break up the right touchline, setting up hooker Jason Walding to drive over the try line, but Walding was held up by some determined last ditched defending by Pil.    However, four minutes later, Jack Hopkins bagged a try when he made a dart for the corner from 8-meters out and managed to place the ball squarely on the line at full stretch when tackled, to give Cinderford a comfortable 24-7 half time lead.

 

Early in the second half, Cinderford’s forwards turned Pil over on the floor and drove to the Harriers 5m line, where maul became ruck and scrum half Sam Watkins shaped to fire the ball infield to his waiting backs, but then  stepped inside, wrong footing the opposition defence and darting through to score unopposed at the posts. The kicking tee having been temporarily misplaced, Jack Hopkins converted with a drop kick; 31-7.

 

Unfortunately, two minutes later, having just been shown a yellow card for dissent Chance Ridler compounded his frustration with a follow up remark to referee Charlie Gayther, who was left with little option but to immediately up the card to a red, leaving Cinderford to play out the remaining half hour with fourteen men.  Five minutes later, the Pil Number 4 had a ten minute spell in the bin after several warnings by the referee for persistent offside infringements at the rucks.

 

Despite playing with a man down, Cinderford were on top for the balance of the match.  Lewis Overthrow came on as a replacement at the beginning of the second half and had a cracking game at Number six, scoring Cinderford’s sixth try, this one directly under the posts and converted by James Hadley to take the score on to 38-7.

 

Two minutes later, Jake Drinkwater powered to a try in the right corner after Luke Kell had made a cracking solo cross field run from 35yards out on the opposite side, only to be brought down just short of the line.  43-7.   Cinderford then worked a training ground lineout move near the Pil 5meter line and fired the ball quickly across the entire back line for Jack Richards to finish with a try on the corner; 48-7.   Cinderford’s final try came just before full time, when Kyle Frowen barged through from the back of a close range scrum and take the final score to 53-7.

 

Overall, this was a good performance by Cinderford, particularly by the forwards, most notably Jake Drinkwater, Jake Bonser and Lewis Overthrow, in very difficult weather and pitch conditions.

 

Also, well done to the match referee, 15-year old Charlie Gayther, who is more often to be found at scrum half for this Cinderford U16 side, but on this occasion officiated and showed why he is rapidly building a solid reputation as an up and coming rugby referee.

 

Cinderford were able to give all 25 available players a good run out in this match and, despite the heavy defeat, the Pil Harriers players never let their heads drop.  This was the first meeting between these two sides and Cinderford hope to travel to Newport for a reverse fixture some time in the New Year with this very pleasant bunch of lads, coaches and supporters.

 

Match Report & Photos: Simon Hawkins

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Cinderford lose fourth game in a row

Cinderford 10 – Tynedale 18

CINDERFORD looked like a team low on confidence as they slipped to their fourth consecutive defeat in National League One.

They made a dream start – stealing the visitors’ line-out ball and putting Tynedale under severe pressure.

The Foresters hammered away at their opponent’s line and were awarded a penalty-try when Tynedale twice prevented them from scoring illegally,

Fly-half Danny Pointon added the conversion, but somehow missed a simple penalty from in front of the posts shortly afterwards.

Tynedale improved as the match progressed and drew level with a try from second-row Andrew Murray, converted by Andrew Hall.

Pointon restored Cinderford’s lead on 32 minutes with a penalty, but it was Tynedale who were doing all the attacking when the whistle blew to end the first-half.

Hall levelled the scores up early in the second-half with his opening penalty.

Cinderford were now struggling in the set-pieces and the visitors looked dangerous going forward with some quick handling and close support play.

On the hour, Hall kicked another penalty to put his side in front.

Ten minutes from time, prop John Williams crashed over from close-range for an unconverted try to make the game safe for the visitors.

Cinderford had chances to gain at least a bonus point, but their best efforts were thwarted by a resilient Tynedale defence.

Cinderford forwards coach Lee Fortey was disappointed with Saturday’s showing from his men, saying: “As a set pack of eight, we didn’t do enough of the grunt.

“We were under pressure at the set-pieces and when that happens you take it a bit personally.

“Home games are crucial but it seems when we get a lead and go in front we stop playing.”

Fortey believes this Saturday’s trip to Blackheath, who are just above Cinderford in the league table, is now a massive game for both clubs.

He said: “We have to go there and grind out a result.

“We’re not too far away, but it’s all our own doing that we’re where we are in the league.”

Cinderford: Dave Knight (rep Brett Turner 72), Rob Winchle, Paul Boston (rep Alistair Bressington 62), Dewi Scourfield, Reuben Haile, Danny Pointon, Paul Knight (capt), Phil Kennedy, Adrian Duncan, Andy Deacon (rep Joe Smart 70), Dave Bufton, Danny Wright, Adam Nicholls, Chris McNeil, George Evans (rep Mike Panaho 53). Rep not used: Chris Hall.

Source:thisisgloucestershire

Cinderford RFC U16s vs St. Mary’s OB RFC_27th Sept 2009

Cinderford RFC U16           20

 

St. Mary’s OB RFC U16      15

 

 Cinderford RFC U16s powered their way to a commanding 20-3 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.  Having just missed a penalty kick at goal moments earlier, Cinderford then crossed the St Mary’s try line 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.  At this point, 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 in a 30 yard dash up the right, drawing in the defence before popping the ball to winger, Tom Ward in support.  Ward was brought down 7meters out but Cinderford forwards were in quick support and recycled the ball at the ruck from 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 exchanged 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 Forest 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 had an immense game 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.  Some powerhouse running through the centre, first by Kyle Frowen and then 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.

 

Match Report & Photos: Simon Hawkins

 

…

Cinderford coach suffers punctured lung

CINDERFORD player/coach Phil Greenaway was detained in hospital after his side’s 3-0 defeat away at Newbury Blues.

Greenaway was diagnosed with two broken ribs and a punctured lung. Incredibly, he played through the pain for the entire match after suffering the injury towards the end of the first-half.

Cinderford RFC U16s vs Drybrook RFC U16s_15 Nov ‘09

Cinderford RFC U16           19

Drybrook RFC U16               0

Despite missing nine regular players, all on Gloucestershire County ‘A’ playing duties, Cinderford U16s demonstrated their strength in squad depth with a convincing 19-0 win over local rivals Drybrook at Dockham Road .  Drybrook arrived clearly sensing the possibility of an upset but every Cinderford player stepped up to the challenge, not just to record a win in this typically well contested derby, but to also shut a very determined Drybrook out on the scoreboard too.

Cinderford started strongly, going close to an opening score on two occasions in the opening few minutes.  Kyle Frowen, playing against his old team for the first time, had an outstanding game at number eight, both in defence and in attack and got to within inches of the Drybrook try line only to be held out by the sheer weight of numbers against him. Minutes later, Adam Wilce crossed the try line in the opposite corner but the try was disallowed for an earlier infringement.

Despite having the lion’s share of attacking possession and territorial advantage throughout, Cinderford were their own worst enemies on occasions in the intensity of this local derby battle.  A steady stream of needless penalty infringements by the home side gifted Drybrook the ball and the opportunity to counter.

The long overdue first try came in the thirty fourth minute, after prop Toby Farrier went on the charge from a tap penalty near the Drybrook 22, drawing in opposition defence.  When the ball came back out of the ruck, scrum half Charlie Gayther sent a box kick towards the corner flag that was collected on the bounce by winger Tom Ward who returned unopposed under the posts. Jack Hopkins converted to make to 7-0.  Drybrook went on the attack from the restart and were awarded a penalty for their efforts in a central field position but the kick went narrowly wide of the upright and the first half ended shortly afterwards.

Cinderford’s second try came from a big drive up the right that was angled back infield and led to a ruck on the Drybrook 5m line, where Toby Farrier picked up and smashed his way through for a try, converted by Jack Hopkins for 14-0.

Eight minutes before full time Cinderford got their third, and by far the best try of the game.  From a central scrum just inside their own half, Charlie Gayther popped the ball out to replacement outside half Elliott Davies (CRFC U15s) who quickly put the ball into the path of Liam Littleton at centre. Littleton handed off the initial Drybrook defence before offloading to Jack Richards on his outside.  Richards’ sublime one handed return pass around the back wrong footed the opposition defence and sent Littleton on his way again, setting up a maul from which Tom Ward peeled off to continue the move strongly up the blindside. The Drybrook cover defence threw everything into driving Ward over the touchline but Cinderford’s support play was superb, showing great strength and organisation to keep both man and ball in play before prop Jake Drinkwater attacked the open side before offloading to Matt Hawkins, who continued the charge for the line and unselfishly popped the final pass up for prop Toby Farrier to smash through the tiring Drybrook defence from a meter out to record his second try of the game.  The conversion attempt dropped short and the score line stayed at 19-0 to Cinderford, with full time coming minutes later.

Several Cinderford players put in noteworthy performances: Charlie Gayther had his best game for Cinderford at scrum half and Sam Baker was outstanding at open side flanker, all making the man of the match decision a very hard one to call.  In the end, the Cinderford man of the match award went jointly to Kyle Frowen at number eight, who had a fantastic game against his old team, and also to Matt Hawkins at number six, for his exceptional work rate in the contact areas, particularly at the rucks.

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