On a blustery autumnal morning Cinderford travelled to Cheltenham to play Cheltenham Tigers
It was clear from the start that conditions were not going to be conducive to free flowing rugby, with a virtual gale force wind blowing down the length of the pitch. This was going to be a morning for up your jumper rugby.
Cinderford played into the wind in the first half and were soon under pressure from Cheltenham who hoisted the ball high. CInderford withstood this early onslaught and eventually began to exert some control of the ball. From a penalty Cinderford kicked to the corner, and the forwards drove over from the line out.
Cheltenham continued to pressure CInderford with the high ball which eventually paid dividends with them pouncing on a dropped ball to level the scores.
This scored seemed to act as a reminder to Cinderford of how they should be playing the game. The forwards then took charge with strong driving play leading to three further tries in the next 10 minutes.
Half time score: Tigers 5 Cinderford 20
Cinderford started the second half with the same intensity, driving deep into the Tigers 22, more good driving play resulted in two further tries.
The wind by now had dropped a little and with it Cinderford seemed to forget their game plan and spent the next 15 minutes huffing and puffing and trying to put the ball through the hands. This proved difficult as all of the Tigers backs seemed to have the pace of Usain Bolt, or maybe there was just a hint of offside about it.
Play began very scrappy and eventually Cheltenham crossed the line for a consolation score
Final Score: Tigers 12 Cinderford 32
A bit of a mixed bag from Cinderford with some excellent controlled play into the wind and some decidedly average play with the wind behind them.