Having had both Matson and Monmouth cry off, Cinderford left home early to make the long and often dangerous trip to Ebbw Vale.
With many players unavailable, Cinderford could muster only 16 to play against an opposition who were a complete unknown to them.
The bright sun made for good playing conditions, although the pitch was a little soft underfoot.
From the outset RTB controlled possession and after a full five minutes Cinderford hadn’t touched the ball. From their first passage of possession Cinderford put RTB under pressure and drove over to open the scoring.
Two minutes later RTB coughed up the ball on the Cinderford line and Cinderford gained possession and went the length of the pitch to score.
Five minutes later a good handling move by the backs saw Cinderford score a third try. A fourth quickly followed.
It seemed at this stage as if Cinderford could score every time they got possession. However the Cinderford team then started to fall foul of a number of refereeing decisions, which served to keep RTB in the game. Eventually after a number of penalties, RTB were awarded a try which made the half time score 20-5 in favour of Cinderford.
Cinderford started the second half on the front foot. They scored from a drive following a kick to the corner from one of the two penalties that they received during the game, this was quickly followed by a sixth try.
The game then became a bit of a torrid affair with Cinderford finding it difficult to adapt to the local rules, such as the hooker being able to throw the ball straight to the scrum-half at the line out. Nonetheless Cinderford managed to keep their cool and ran it a couple more tries.
With the game nearing its close, RTB managed to cross the line following what seemed to be about their 50th penalty of the game.
In the end it was comfortable win for Cinderford, they weren’t at their best but it was good to get some of the rust out of their system.
Final Score: RTB Ebbw Vale 10 Cinderford 44