Cinderford overcame a strong challenge from Darlington Mowden Park in a highly entertaining National One encounter that produced twelve tries.
Mike Austin kicked off the game immediately as he supported a line break and took off for the line to score at try, which he also converted. A 5m line out for Cinderford meant they could play to their strengths as Danny Hodge found his way out the back of the maul to find the line. A DMP line out was shipped out to the backs and Henry Hadfield exploited a gap in the home defence to score. Louie Johnson landed the conversion and shortly afterwards added a penalty.
Harry Edwards made a fantastic break to bring the home side close and Reece Dunn followed up with a chip over the DMP defence for Jamie Forrester to collect and score. Austin added the extras. Hadfield snatched a second for the visitors as the ball was moved out wide and he stretched his way over the whitewash to make it 19-15 at the interval.
Soon after the re-start Nathan Taylor scored from a dominant Cinderford maul, with Austin adding the conversion. Austin then ran the support line again from some impressive 12-13 chemistry with George Gladding running a hard line from Forrester’s pass, shipping the ball to Austin and allowing him to claim his second try, which he also converted. Taylor then struck again for the home team with another trademark finish from a lineout driving maul and Cinderford looked to be out of sight at 38-15.
However, a yellow card for the unlucky Austin gave DMP a way back into the game as they scored three tries in quick succession through Tom Ledingham, Benjamin Frankland, and Chris McTurk, with Ledingham converting twice. Morgan Adderly-Jones was able to calm any nerves the home supporters may have had though when he grabbed the final score of the game, quickly reacting to a DMP knock on just short of the line to dot the ball over.
Cinderford; Reece Dunn, Will Baldwin, George Gladding, Jamie Forrester, Mason Tonks, Morgan Adderley-Jones, Mike Austin, Harry Edwards, Nathan Taylor, Tim Brockett, Dan Hodge, Tyler Jerrum, Matt Lane, George Angell, Harry Hone (Capt.)
Repls; Joe Smart, Shaun Knight, Joe Mullis, Toby Powell, George Boulton.