Blaydon deservedly came out on top of this encounter between the third and fifth teams in National One, and in so doing inflicted the first home defeat of the season on Cinderford.
The heavy pitch ensured the match developed into a tough and uncompromising battle between the two sets of forwards and it was the men from the North-East who out-muscled the home forwards for much of the match to give them the platform to secure victory.
Early Cinderford pressure resulted in a penalty chance for Mark Davies and he landed the kick to put his team ahead.
Blaydon responded when they mauled their way towards the home line and prop forward Rob Kalbraier forced his way over the line from close range. Andy Baggett added the conversion.
Davies missed a penalty for the home side, before Baggett was on target with a penalty to make it 10-3 to the visitors after half an hours’ play.
The score remained unchanged up to the interval, but Cinderford looked disappointed not to be awarded a try right on the half-time whistle, when second-row Dave McKee appeared to have scored but the referee adjudged he was held up.
The second-half started well for Blaydon when they kicked a penalty into the corner and from the lineout produced a perfectly executed catch and drive which led to flanker Rob Bell claiming the simplest of touchdowns, with Baggett adding the extras.
Cinderford quickly hit back when Davies put in well weighted kick ahead which enabled Nev Codlin to score a try, with Davies converting.
The tackle count was immense from both teams but Blaydon had found Cinderford’s weakness and another penalty was kicked into the corner, setting up a catch and drive which was again touched down byBellwith Baggett converting.
Cinderford battled hard to get back into the match with replacement Joe Garner showing up well, but they made unforced errors at crucial times and Blaydon comfortably saw out the remaining minutes to earn themselves the win.
Cinderford’s Director of rugby Andy Deacon was gracious in defeat saying “ Blaydon did the simple things well and deserved to come out on top”.