Rams narrowly edged-out Courageous Cinderford in Forest of Dean thriller

Match Report by Alex Pitfield
Feature photo courtesy of Paul Clark - S2S Photography (taken at Rams v Cinderford home game on 2nd November as no RAMS photographer available for this away trip).

Rams began briskly with an early try from Andrew Humberstone in the 5th minute. Fly-half Alex Seers kicked a penalty to the corner and the away pack constructed a trade-mark rolling maul off the lineout which led to scrum half Ollie Cole popping the ball up to Humberstone who stretched over the line to dot down, Seers adding the extras. Cinderford came fighting back with a try from flanker Mat Gilbert after a pick and go off the back of a ruck,fly-half Paul Morgan adding the extras to make it 7 all. 15 minutes later flanker Josh Collis aggressively turned the ball over in the midfield to regain possession for Rams. Ollie Cole nipped through a gap in the opposing defence to find himself in a 2 on 1 with winger Conor Corrigan. Cole side-stepped the defender and offloaded to the flying Corrigan who sprinted in unopposed for Rams second try of the afternoon. Seers’ successful conversion made the score 7-14 to the Rams.
Five minutes later Rams earnt themselves a lineout ten metres short of the Cinderford try line. The subsequent rolling maul saw Jack Steadman take the opportunity to score his first try of the season. 2 minutes before half time Rams found themselves in the same position with a similar outcome, however this time Tom Vooght was the man to bundle over the whitewash for his 12th try of the season. Seers’ clinical right boot again added the extras. On the brink of half time Rams gave away a cynical penalty which enabled Cinderford to kick for the corner. This led to several close carries by the Cinderford pack until the ball was shipped out to Terence Babarinsa and the powerful centre stepped his way through the Rams defence and scored under the posts. Morgan failed to convert and Rams jogged in at half time with a 12-26 lead.
The second half began with a quick score for Cinderford after numerous phases allowed hooker Sam Baker to score a well-deserved try. Rams responded through Conor Corrigan who scored his second of the game. A beautiful break on the right-wing saw Corrigan in a one on one against full back Edward Sheldon. Corrigan chipped the ball over the defender’s head and regathered the ball to slide under the posts. Seers once again added the extras. Cinderford responded instantaneously with an unconverted try from outside centre Jack Reeves, but Connor Hayhow, substituting for an injured Stevie Bryant, squeezed his way over the line for his 9th try of this campaign to give Rams a 16-point lead heading into the final quarter. Cinderford fought their way back into the fixture with two well-worked tries from number 8 George Evans, both converted by Morgan. A nail-biting finish saw Rams hold on to the closest 2 point lead for a 38-40 victory and move back to third place in the National league 1.

Rams DoR Seb Reynolds was delighted with the win, but paid tribute to both sides “I thought both teams put on a great display of rugby in difficult and wet conditions, so spectators got their money’s worth in a 12 try bonanza and we edged it thanks to Alex (Seers) being lethally accurate with his kicking” and he went on “Cinderford is a proud and tough club that epitomise everything that is good about rugby in Gloucestershire and the Forest of Dean specifically – they give you nothing and they play for the shirt, so you have to fight for 80 minutes if you want to get anything from the game andsa we did that today”

Rams return after a two-week absence to Old Bath Road next Saturday 21st March (subject to Coronavirus restrictions) , where they face Canterbury who they beat last time out 22 – 48. Kick Off 2.30 p.m

Rams
Tries: Humberstone 5’, Corrigan 23’ 46’, Steadman 29’, Vooght 37’, Hayhow 56’
Conversions: Seers 6’, 24’, 38’, 47’, 57’
Pens: N/A
Cinderford
Tries: Gilbert 13’, Babarinsa 39’, Baker 43’, Reeves 52’, Evans 61’ 68’
Conversions: Morgan 14’, 44’, 62’, 69’
Pens: N/A

Attendance: 220
HT Score: 12 – 26
FT Score: Cinderford 38 - 40 Rams
Star man: Conor Corrigan
Referee: James O’Brien

Lineups
Cinderford (15 – 9, then 1 – 8)
Sheldon; Baldwin; Reeves; Babarinsa; Smith; Morgan; Williams; Smart; Baker; Elliott; Shields; Lemon©; Gilbert; Bennett; Evans
Replacements: Brockett; English; Hunt; Angell; Nicholls
Rams (15 – 9, then 1 – 8)
Leicester; Corrigan; Bryant; Humberstone; Denham, Seers; Cole; Steadman; Moffitt; Zeiss; Stapley; Thomson; Collis; Vooght©; Crame
Replacements: Marris; Baker; Ellaboudy; Hayhow; Moates