Cinderford emerged from a tough encounter with a hard-earned victory at Veritas Park the home of Taunton Titans.
Playing with the advantage of a strong breeze at their backs in the first-half the visitors built up a 17-5 lead at the interval which was to prove decisive to the eventual outcome of the match. Early pressure near the home side’s try line saw Mike Austin open the scoring for Cinderford when he landed a penalty after nine minutes of play. The Forest side continued to take the initiative and they increased their lead when inspirational captain Harry Hone was quickly through to score a try from a 5m lineout, which Austin converted.
Another attacking lineout then saw hooker Nathan Taylor stretch the lead further with a trademark catch and drive over the line, which Austin again converted. As half-time approached Taunton got their first points on the board when No8 Ratu Vakalutukali forced his way over from close range for an unconverted try.
With conditions now in their favour the home side made the perfect start to the second-half when scrum-half Jordan Petherbridge raced over untouched from a lineout 22m out, with Frankie Dart adding the conversion. The remainder of the match saw the defensive qualities of both teams to the fore, however Cinderford maintained their advantage at the scrummage and they were able to exert enough pressure on their opponents to force them to concede a couple of penalties, which enabled Austin to close out the game for the Foresters.
Cinderford; Mike Wilcox, Mason Tonks, Will Baldwin, George Boulton, Will Hendy, Jamie Forrester, Mike Austin, George Porter, Nathan Taylor, Shaun Knight, Tyler Jerrum, Jack Shields, Matt Lane, Aaron Ryan, Harry Hone (Capt.)
Replacements; Tim Brockett, Joe Mullis, Dan Hodge, Dec Fissenden, Jimmy Williams.