James Moffat kicked an injury time penalty to earn Cinderford a thrilling victory over Redingensians Rams in a pulsating encounter that saw eleven tries scored.
The home side secured possession from the kick-off and went through the phases to set up the opportunity for Omar Ellaboudy to open the scoring with an unconverted try. Cinderford responded well and centre Jack Hayes went over twice in a four minute spell of terrific attacking rugby, with Moffat landing both conversions. Back came the hosts though with similar passage of play that brought tries for Jordan Souter and a second for Ellaboudy, with Tom Humberstone converting once.
The match continued at a breathless pace, with play switching from end to end and Cinderford regained the lead when Reuben Norville went over on the overlap for an unconverted try. As half-time approached the Rams scored their bonus point try when Steve Bryant raced through a gap in their opponents defence to score under the posts, with Humberstone converting. There was still time however for Moffat to put over a penalty for Cinderford, to make it 24-22 to the home side at the interval.
Perhaps not surprisingly the second half took a little while to get going, but the Rams extended their lead when replacement prop Andrew Berry scored from a lineout catch and drive, before Tim Brockett responded in identical fashion for the visitors. The match appeared to swing in the Rams favour when Joe Duffelen scored their sixth try, ten minutes from time, with Humberstone’s conversion making it 36-27.
Cinderford knew their unbeaten record was under threat and they came right back into it when Matt Lane forced his way over, with Moffat again converting. Before they showed great composure in the closing stages to go through the phases and win the penalty that allowed Moffat to seal a dramatic victory, with the last kick of the match.
Cinderford; James Moffat, Kai Little, Terence Babarinsa, Jack Hayes, Reuben Norville, Liam Hemming, Jimmy Williams, George Porter (Capt.), Nathan Taylor, James Elliot, George Evans, Dale Lemon, Matt Lane, Lewis Beer, Harry Hone.
Replacements; Joe Smart, Tim Brockett, Jack Shields, Aaron Ryan, Alex Frame.