Cinderford never really recovered from conceding ten points to Sale FC in the opening seven minutes at Heywood Road, but they still emerged with a losing bonus point.
The home team were quickly into their stride and winger Tom Walsh raced over after just three minutes of play, with Tom Curtis landing the conversion. Soon afterwards Curtis increased the lead with a penalty awarded for a high tackle. The match then settled down into a well-contested encounter, with the defences of both sides holding firm until the 34th minute when Cinderford winger Will Hendy was adjudged to have been taken out in the air and the referee awarded the visitors a penalty try. The home team crucially regained their ten-point advantage though just before the interval when Neville Edwards scored a try in the corner, which Curtis converted.
The second-half saw Sale further increase their lead in the early stages with a kick ahead and chase resulting in a second try for Walsh, which Curtis again converted. At this stage it looked as though the Foresters were heading for a heavy defeat, but they were much improved for the remainder of the match and thoroughly deserved to score when scrum-half Mike Austin stole away down the blindside for a try, which he also converted. Then more pressure from the visitors in the closing stages saw them awarded a penalty in front of the posts and Austin was on target to earn his team a point.
Cinderford; Mike Wilcox, Mason Tonks, Will Baldwin, Jamie Forrester, Will Hendy, George Boulton, Mike Austin, George Porter, Nathan Taylor, Shaun Knight, Tyler Jerrum, Jack Shields, Matt Lane, Dec Fissenden, Harry Hone (Capt.)
Repls; Tim Brockett, Harry Edwards, Danny Hodge, George Angell, Morgan Adderly-Jones