Cinderford’s eight year stay in National League One came to an end with a defeat at Rosslyn Park confirming their relegation.
The home side were soon opened the scoring when No8 Ed Milne finished off lineout catch and drive. The visitors responded well with Tiff Eden landing a penalty, but a second attempt from inside his own half fell just short. Park increased their lead when scrum-half Tom Whiteley scored a fine individual try after 18 minutes of play.
Once again a yellow card, this time awarded against Adam Balding, was to prove costly for Cinderford as their opponents took advantage of the extra man to score twice, with Whiteley and then Milne crossing for their second tries, both of which were converted by Whiteley. Cinderford were temporarily reduced to 13 men when Lloyd Stapleton was also shown a yellow card, but they produced a good spell of pressure and were eventually rewarded when second-row Roger Birkin forced his way over for a try, which Eden converted to make it 24-10 at half-time.
The visitors battled bravely throughout the second-half but Park simply had too much pace and power behind the scrum and they added three more tries through Paul Mackey and another brace from Matt Hawkes. Whiteley and Scott Sneddon landed one conversion each to complete the scoring. The final whistle signalled relegation back to National League 2 (South) for Cinderford, where they will hope to regroup and mount a challenge for promotion next season.
Cinderford; Jack O’Connell, Alex Frame, Sam Hanks, Tiff Eden, Lloyd Stapleton, Mike Wilcox (Capt.), Clive Stuart-Smith, Derrick Appiah, Davy McGregor, Elliot Booley, Roger Birkin, Ed King, Adam Balding, George Mills, Matt Lane.
Reps: Will Goodrick-Clarke, Tom Bozzard, Marcus Brown, Milo Reynolds, Ollie Whiting.