Cinderford Comes Home to Welcome Macclesfield
Saturday 13 December KO 2.30pm — National 1
Still buzzing following last week’s terrific win away at Richmond and a good second half the week before at Fylde, Cinderford returns home from a spell away in good spirit and determined to give the home crowd another festive win in a much anticipated fixture against Macclesfield.
Since the Foresters last home fixture, the final tweaks have been put in place behind the scenes with Nic Corrigan who becomes director of professional rugby & coaching. He is supported by Andy Deacon as professional rugby manager, and Paul Morris as player development manager. Corrigan is running the defence and set piece coaching strategy while Paul and scrum half player/coach, Clive Stuart-Smith are leading the attack strategy.
“It’s been a hectic few weeks since I arrived here and has been a great experience so far, with some lows yet many highs, on the pitch. Our single focus as a team is to secure National 1 safety and be in this league in 2015. By the end of January we will better know our position in the league and the next five or six games will shape our season.”
“Much has been said and written about our stellar comeback from 30-8 at HT to win 32-30 at Richmond. But we have much respect for this tough league and also for our opponents today, Macclesfield. National 1 is not a learning environment; it’s a highly competitive league. We can never let up and every game is a must-win. Today I am looking to the players for their courage and character to step up and be resilient out there. Support from the home crowd goes along way and something we have missed these past two weeks.”“I would like to thank everyone for making me feel welcome and I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge. Cinderford is a passionate club steeped in tradition and it’s all about succeeding and ensuring National 1 for 2015/16.”
Changes to the side see Luke Cole retains his starting place at hooker after coming off the bench, in rotation with Sam Wilkes. Roger Birkin moves to second row for an injured Lance Randall. George Mills goes from 7 to 6 and Marcus Brown retains his place at 7 after coming of the bench, as does Sam Hanks at 12. Dan Fry comes into the side from the bench, and Al Bryan will make an impact from the bench after starting last week.
#teamcindy news sees Cinderford United on an ‘international’ trip to play Jersey Athletics KO 12:00pm! An annual highlight in the Foresters rugby calendar. Good luck to the squad travelling over there with Paul Morris and co. Cinderford Bucks travel a little closer to home to Cirencester RFC at 2.30pm.
Good luck to all teams.
Cinderford v Macclesfield
15 Mike Wilcox (capt)
14 Alex Frame
13 Jack Adams
12 Sam Hanks
11 Sam Baker
10 Mark Davies
9 Clive Stuart-Smith
1 Chris Bundy
2 Luke Cole
3 Jake Caulfield
4 Roger Birkin
5 Milo Reynolds
6 George Mills
7 Marcus Brown
8 George Evans
Replacements
16 Stef Hawley
17 Sam Wilcox
18 Dan Fry
19 Al Bryan
20 Elliot Booley