Cinderford edged out Caldy in a very tense encounter that remained in the balance right up until the final whistle.
With the wind at their backs it was the visitors who were quickly on the attack and opened the scoring in the seventh minute when centre Luke Hibberd crossed for an unconverted try. Back came Cinderford and Aaron Ryan eluded the opposition defence to score a try to level up the scoring after 12 minutes. Some quick offloads then created the chance for home centre George Boulton to put his team ahead, with Liam Hemming adding the conversion.
Cinderford’s third try saw Ryan combining with winger Sam Smith to enable him to go over for a second score and make it 17-5 after 26 minutes. As half-time approached Caldy brought themselves right back into contention with two tries in quick succession, when firstly Ben Jones outpaced the home defence, then Hibberd scored his second, both of which were unconverted.
The second-half began with Hemming landing a penalty, before the home side finished off a long spell of pressure in opposition territory when Smith went over for the bonus point try, which was well converted from the touchline by Hemming. Caldy were certainly not out of it tough and their elusive outside-half Rhys Hayes soon scored their fourth try, but once again Jones was unable to convert.
When Josh Dickinson scored a fifth try for the visitors with eight minutes remaining it was all to play for, but the home defence held firm to earn themselves an important victory.
Cinderford; Stefan Hawley, Sam Smith, Terence Babarinsa, George Boulton, Reuben Norville, Liam Hemming, Alex Frame, George Porter (Capt.), Joe Mullis, James Elliot, George Evans, Dale Lemon, Matt Lane, Aaron Ryan, Harry Hone.
Replacements; Joe Smart, Tim Brockett, Jack Preece, Will Keenan, Toby Dabell.