Cinderford u14s v BerryHill u14s
Cinderford welcomed BerryHill to Dockham Road. Just before kick off the sun broke through promising a dry spell for this keenly anticipated local derby.
Prior to kick off both teams lined up to observe a minutes silence and you could hear a pin drop around the park as this was respectfully observed to remember the war dead.
BerryHill kicked off with the wind at their backs, some good handling paired with some weak Cinderford tackling allowed the visitors to score 2 quick trys as BerryHill raced into a 12-0 lead.
Following this wake up call Cinderford seemed to wake up with some good driving in the forwards and crisp passing for Alex Powell to break through the defence to score a fine solo try out wide, Dan Kibble unable to convert from out wide. Following the restart Cinderford’s backs started to gain some confidence and a great move started by Nick Kiss was superbly finished off by Jack Robinson in the corner Dan Kibble again close with his conversion attempt into the wind.
Half-time Cinderford 10-12 BerryHill
The second half started as the first half finished with Cinderford overpowering their opponents resulting in Oscar Baggs crashing over following a quick tap penalty. This time converted by Dan Kibble to give Cinderford the lead for the first time.
This seemed to jolt BerryHill into life and they ran in 2 further scores as the rain started to fall heavily. Cinderford kept playing until the whistle but couldn’t find the final pass to get back into the game.
Final score Cinderford 17-26 BerryHill.
All in all a competitive game played in good spirits, and, for now, forest bragging rights go to BerryHill. Cinderford will look forward to the return fixture to correct that.
Man of the match Toby Butcher on his debut for solid tackling and some creative running from fullback. Also a big welcome to Keane Meek on debut at scrum half.