Cinderford saw off a determined challenge from the Students in a highly entertaining encounter that produced 13 tries.
The visitors got off a flying start when second-row Thibaud Flament burst though for the opening try in the first minute, with Tim Bitirim adding the conversion. The home side responded well with full-back Alex Frame following up a kick ahead to score an unconverted try in the corner. A lineout catch and drive saw Cinderford take the lead when hooker Nathan Taylor got the ball over the try line, then winger Sam Smith showed some good footwork to evade several tackles and score under the posts, with Dan Pointon adding the conversion.
Cinderford scored their bonus point try with another lineout drive that saw Taylor going over again and Pointon landing the conversion. Back came the Students though when a quickly taken penalty saw Flament force way over for his second try, which Bitirim converted to make it 24-14 at the interval.
The home side were first to score in the second half when some good offloads realised scrum-half Toby Dabell to score, with Pointon adding the extras. Winger Alex Glashan responded for the visitors with a try in the corner, but two further tries for Cinderford from replacement hooker Tom Bozzard and centre Jack Hayes, both of which were converted by Pointon stretched the lead to 45-19.
The Students refused to give up though and they scored three tries in the final seven minutes through Jack Moates, another from the impressive Flament to complete his ‘hat-trick’ and Harry Mahoney, with Charlie Reed landing one conversion.
Cinderford; Alex Frame, Sam Smith, Jack Hayes, George Boulton, Tom Darby, Dan Pointon, Toby Dabell, George Porter (Capt.), Nathan Taylor, James Elliot, George Evans, Dale Lemon, Jack Shields, Aaron Ryan, Harry Hone.
Replacements; Joe Smart, Tom Bozzard, Matthew Bennett, Ed Bogue, Reuben Norville.