Cinderford edged past Cambridge in a very attritional contest played in bitterly cold conditions.
The home side were soon pressing forward as the game got underway and a knock-on saw them earn a scrummage 5m out, then after numerous penalties and re-sets the referee finally awarded them a penalty try. A quickly taken penalty saw Cinderford on the attack again and after some strong carries by their forwards the ball was recycled to second-row Ben Chan who went over for a try, which was well converted by Dan Pointon. The Forest of Dean side were denied a third try soon afterwards when they were penalised for a double movement and after this Cambridge gradually came more into the match, but were unable breakthrough a well organised home defence before half-time.
Straight from the re-start the visitors opened their account when full-back Lawrence Rayner landed a penalty. Shortly afterwards he was off target with an attempt from long range, but two more successful kicks in as many minutes meant that the visitors were well and truly back in the contest. They dominated territory and possession for much of the remainder of the match but still were unable to unlock a very solid home defence. The visitors ended the match with 13 players on the pitch following yellow cards for Darren Fox and Jake McCloud and Cinderford were able to celebrate a hard earned victory.
Cinderford; Stef Hawley, Sam Smith, Ed Bogue, George Boulton, Reuben Norville, Dan Pointon, Alex Frame, George Porter (Capt.), Nathan Taylor, James Elliot, Jack Shields, Ben Chan, Harry Hone, Matt Bennett, George Evans.
Replacements; Tim Brockett, Tom Heard, Tom Bozzard, Aaron Ryan, Liam Hemming.