Caldy edged out Cinderford, but the visitors were left hugely frustrated by several decisions from the officials that went against them.
The home side opened the scoring when second-row Sam Dickinson crossed for an unconverted try. Cinderford looked to have responded when scrum-half Mike Austin dived over, but he was adjudged to have been held up and they had to settle for penalty from Reece Boughton. Play continued to be well contested before Caldy increased their lead when Ben Jones scored and then converted his own try. The visitors reduced the deficit to 12-10 right on the half-time whistle when after a series of pick and goes from their forwards prop James Elliot twisted out of a tackle to get the ball down for a try, which Boughton converted.
The second-half soon saw Cinderford full-back Mike Wilcox sprinting clear from deep inside his own half, with Boughton again converting and they looked to have scored again when Nathan Taylor grounded the ball on the line, but once again he was adjudged to have been held up. The referee then awarded Caldy a penalty try in somewhat unclear circumstances and sent Reece Dunn to the sin-bin.
Back came the Foresters and Will Baldwin showed good skills to score a try, which was once again converted by the impeccable Boughton. The final ten minutes brought more controversy when Nick Royle’s try and a conversion from Jones restored the lead for the home team despite what appeared to be a forward pass in the build-up. Then the game ended when a seemingly unstoppable surge to the line by the Cinderford forwards was brought to ground and they were penalised at the ruck, allowing the home side to clear their lines and claim the victory.
Cinderford; Mike Wilcox, Will Baldwin, James Forrester, George Boulton, Reece Dunn, Reece Boughton, Mike Austin, George Porter, Nathan Taylor, James Elliot, Tyler Jerrum, Mathew Gilbert, Matt Lane, George Angell, Harry Hone.
Repls; Tim Brockett, Jack Preece, Aaron Ryan, Joe Dancer, Clive Stuart-Smith.