Cinderford were cruelly denied the consolation of a losing bonus point their battling performance deserved, when Coventry outside-half Matt Jones landed a penalty with the last kick of the match in front of a crowd of over 2000 at the Butts Park Arena.
The home winger soon set the game alight when chipped ahead and chased 50m up field to claim the opening try, with Jones converting. The visitors hit back when centre Sam Hanks showed good strength to breakthrough a couple of attempted tackles to make it over the try line, with James Moffat adding the conversion. Another fine try from Rundle put Coventry back ahead, but Cinderford responded well and following a penalty from Moffat they took the lead when hooker Luke Cole crossed for a converted try as the ball was moved to the blindside from a lineout 5m out. The home side went into the interval 21-17 ahead when Will Hurrell scored their third try, with Jones again on target with the conversion.
Jones kicked a penalty early in the second-half, before the pace of Rundle once again proved too much for Cinderford as he completed an excellent ‘hat-trick’ of tries after 52 minutes of the match. Cinderford had plenty of possession in the final quarter, but failed to take a couple of scoring opportunities before Stefan Hawley crossed for an unconverted try in the closing stages, however there was still time for Jones to deny them at the end of a thrilling encounter.
Cinderford team: Mike Wilcox (capt), Sam Baker, Sam Hanks, Leo Fielding, Stefan Hawley, James Moffat, Clive Stuart-Smith, Jack Cosgrove, Sam Wilkes, Jake Caulfield, Roger Birkin, Ed King, George Mills, Sam Underhill, Dan Fry
Replacements: Dan Pointon, Luke Cole, Jack Adams, Marcus Brown, Elliot Booley