Cinderford recovered from a slow start to the match to pull off an excellent victory at Clifton.
It was the home side who were quickly onto the attack and tries from Niall Gibbons, which was converted by Tom Quinlan, and Alex Kilbane gave them a 12-0 in as many minutes. The visitors responded with a trademark lineout catch and drive try from Nathan Taylor, which Luke McMahon converted, but Clifton scored again with a second try from Kilbane, with Quinlan adding the extras. Back came Cinderford though, with a second from Taylor and then Sam Smith sped over, with McMahon landing both conversions to give his team a 21-19 lead at the interval.
The second half soon produced another score for the visitors when Elliot Southworth raced over, with McMahon converting and the breathless nature of the match continued with a second try for the home team from Gibbons, which Quinlan converted. The scoring rush continued with Cinderford captain Tyler Jerrum turning up on the wing to complete a well-constructed try for his side, but Clifton again responded with a try from Tom Anderson to make it 31-33. The final quarter began with the visitors scoring their sixth try through George Perry, which McMahon converted, before the home team responded in kind with Will Owen scoring to set up a tense finish. The closing stages saw both teams have opportunities to score but none were taken and Cinderford were left to celebrate a fine victory at the final whistle.
Cinderford; Harry Johnson, Sam Smith, Will Baldwin, Hugo Murray, Elliot Southworth, Luke McMahon, Sam Allford, George Alexander, Nathan Taylor, James Elliot, Tyler Jerrum (Capt.), Ben Carpenter, Aaron Ryan, Dan Broady, George Evans.
Repls; Harry Edwards, George Perry, Jonny Holliday, Callum Thompson, Stan Folks-Underhill.