Cinderford forwards run rampage wild boar style over Stroud

It was a tricky start to visit our friends in the forest. A meet up at Cinderford main ground was wasted because we were turned around and told to travel a ‘short distance’ to the 2nd team pitch at Cinderford Bridge. 2 hours later we finally managed to find it with cars heading in all random directions it seemed like. Eventually we found the pitch – it wasn’t in Cinderford, and it didn’t have a bridge. It wasn’t even a pitch. It was boar territory with a nice rutted feel, plenty of dug up areas, boggy patches and hidden in the woods. It had posts and lines though so it was good enough for us – would be a challenge though for our fast flowing backs moves to execute cleanly on this pitch. A pitch for forwards – and Cinderford were strong in that department for sure. Home field advantage to them.

Forwards: Liam, Orgy, Callum, Jedd, Laurie, Harry, Stoner, Mr T
Backs: Hilly, Will, Dave, Arthur, Billy, Big Mac, Alex
Subs: Lucas, Bailey, Darion, Euan, Flash, James, Ryan, Keyan

Stroud started strongly. A good kickoff that forced Cinderford into touch. A clean lineout catch by Laurie from a typical Orgy throw. And then it went wrong…..
…..very wrong……
…..very very wrong!

Cinderford forced a knock-on and had a scrum restart. Their powerful #8 made good yardage. They then kicked for space but knocked on. Stroud won their scrum on halfway and attacked left. The ball came back to Alex who nearly had his head taken off. Stroud complained but the ref was in charge and gave a penalty to Cinderford. They kicked for the corner, won their lineout, driving maul and then scored in the right corner. The kick clanged off the post but Cinderford were leading early doors.

Stroud were unable to kick from the centre due to the cut-up pitch so came over to the narrow side which made the ball go straight to touch. Cinderford won their scrum restart on halfway and attacked left. They smashed through the middle and only an Alex tackle and then a Harry tackle stopped 2 try scoring opportunities. As the bodies started to litter the pitch Cinderford worked a gap and scored in the left corner. A good conversion and it was Forwards 12-0 Stroud (and Cinderford Backs). Told you it was going badly wrong….. and hadn’t even played 5 minutes.

Stroud started to knuckle down though and the next phase of the game was more equal – hooray !

Cinderford knocked on the kickoff and Stroud won their scrum. Arthur and Jedd had good runs. Then Dave and Big-Mac made good yardage up the right flank and into the Cinderford 22 but were penalised for holding on. A quick tap penalty and Cinderford attacked right. Their backs got excited – it was their chance to shine! They got the ball out quickly to their pacy winger and he flew down the wing. A diving tap tackle by Alex was enough to bring him to ground and then good rucking by Stroud forced a turnover. Will kicked long and Cinderford knocked on under pressure from Big-Mac. Laurie picked up the loose ball and entered the promised land – the Cinderford half of the pitch. Wouldn’t be spending much time here unfortunately. Liam smashed up the middle but good breakdown play forced a turnover. Cinderford kicked left and Big-Mac did well to catch the ball. Under intense pressure he was forced to hold on and Cinderford had another penalty. They kicked for the corner but this time the machine went wrong and they dropped the lineout ball.

Stroud held strong and won the scrum restart on their own 5 metre line. Will kicked long but Cinderford returned it well and kept the pressure within the Stroud 22. After a few phases a Harry big tackle forced a knock-on and then Cinderford were penalised trying to win the ball back. Will kicked for touch and Laurie won the lineout on Strouds own 22. A good drive from the forwards gave Hilly space to launch an attack. Quick hands from the backs set the ball out right to Big-Mac who ignored the poor footing and just flew over the top. He was eventually intercepted by a Cinderford Exocet and they both crashed into touch in the Cinderford 22. They won their lineout and kicked for touch. Stroud then won their lineout and Bailey then Darion made some damaging runs. They quickly got isolated though and Cinderford turned over the ball again. They attacked back quickly and kicked for the try line. Billy managed to touch down though and Stroud had a 22 restart. Will’s perfect kick was caught by Big-Mac and he looked to score but the ball was ripped from him.

In typical Cinderford fashion they kept the ball in the forwards and powered into the Stroud 22. Arthur was able to stop them and Cinderford changed to a backs move. The ball came right in the Stroud 22 but they knocked on. Billy hacked the ball on and a try scoring chance looked to open up. He went for the 2nd hack but a mole hill appeared out of nowhere and got in the way and Billy broke his toe (probably). Back for the Stroud scrum that they duly won and attacked right through Dave and Big-Mac. A good ruck was won and miner Hilly popped out of the Cinderford Colliery with the prize of the ball, and a canary in a cage for his Dad to breed at Slimbridge WWT. A good pass and Jedd went Llama. Boars like Llama for breakfast so Cinderford quickly devoured Jedd and spat out the bones. With the prize of the ball they then attacked right and their pacy winger scored in the corner while the rest of the team were too busy trying to put Jedd back together and forgot their tackle duties. A great conversion kick from wide made it 19-0 to the Foresters. Yes it was still going wrong. But things could only get better…..

The Stroud coaches concocted a master plan and declared next try wins the half. The Cinderford coaches must have heard us as they nodded from the far side. Game on we thought. Time to bring our “A” game.

Will kicked long. Cinderford kicked it back with interest but Alex recovered it well. As the kick chase closed in he passed back inside to Will and Dave who made good yardage. A good clearout from Stoner and Liam gave Darion a chance to pick and go. He was held up but quick hands found Alex who drew some defenders and released Billy who powered up the wing. He did well to a) keep traction going forward on the mossy surface, b) stay on the pitch with the slope and c) stay in play when caught by the inevitable tackle. Bailey supported well and smashed up the pitch. More good clearouts by Laurie and Lucas created space for Hilly to set the backs off right. More excellent passing set Dave into space. He was closed down eventually but as he was taken to ground the ball came out perfectly to Big-Mac who sprinted down the right wing and touched down in the corner. A difficult kick was only just missed but Stroud had scored a fantastic team try from their own 22 and worked it left and right to score the try of the half – and also the winning try as we had agreed (we think)! The ref blew for half time and Stroud rested their weary limbs.

Half Time: Cinderford 19 – 5 Stroud

Subs were taken and Keyan swapped for Dave who was still feeling under the weather.

Big-Mac caught the kickoff and a good move with Will, Arthur and Billy made space up the left. Then Jedd and Darion battered their way over the gain line. Will kicked into the Cinderford 22 which they recovered well and kicked back for Billy to equally show his skills with a good run back. The ball came to Will and under pressure from a quick defensive press he threw long to Big Mac who looked inside and passed to Keyan. Unfortunately Keyan was wearing a bullseye on his shirt and the whole Cinderford team tackled him en-masse. Flash sniped up the blindside but somehow he was tackled out of play. It must have been the pitch that claimed another victim as Keyan was still under a sea of Cinderford bodies.

Cinderford won their lineout on half way and worked their way up the pitch with powerful forward runs. They kept pressure on the Stroud line and eventually after working the ball both left and right found a gap and forced their way over close to the posts. An easy conversion made it 26-5 to Cinderford.

Stroud kicked long and a good kick chase and combined tackle-to-touch by Billy and Keyan earnt Stroud a lineout in the Cinderford half. Laurie won the ball but more good forward play from Cinderford turned the ball over. They attacked right and looked to score but Ryan tackled them into touch. Stroud had a lineout on their own 5 but again this just meant Cinderford turned over the ball once Stroud had caught it. Stroud were penalised and Cinderford had a scrum restart. They looked close to scoring but were held up over the try line so back for another scrum. This time their #10 jacked back down the blindside and scored and another good conversion kick made it 33-5.

Stroud kicked long and Cinderford went through a few phases and then punted deep. Alex caught cleanly and started a move that then gave Dave, Ryan and Keyan chance to make some good runs. And as soon as Keyan looked to accelerate up the wing he was piled into touch. He really did need to remove that target on his back. It was making it easy for Cinderford to line up on him! Cinderford won their lineout and kept it within the forwards. Stoner and then Harry put in strong tackles which forced a knock-on. Stroud had a scrum restart close to halfway and quickly attacked right. Arthurs pass was intercepted but Will showed great determination to stop their back from scoring. Arthur had somehow recovered and got back to then win the ruck turnover and subsequent penalty. A quick tap penalty and Stroud attacked left and again it was Keyan who had a chance down the left flank but again Cinderford efficiently ushered him politely into touch – only 12 players in the tackle this time……

The game paused for an injury rest. Again the innovative Stroud coaches were heard to utter those immortal words “next try wins the game”. Again we looked over to the Cinderford coaches and they were nodding their heads – surely in agreement to our plan and not due to the happiness of their team performance so far. To confuse the Cinderford squad and inject some pace into our forward pack we sent on Dave at #8 and Big-Mac at flanker. Somehow we won the next scrum – down 50 stone we reckon…. The backs attacked right and James showed great skill to keep the ball well when pounded to the ground. Good rucking gave Flash the chance to set flanker Big-Mac off on a run up the middle. Bit boggy in the middle as he sank upto his thighs in the mud . He much prefers the drier and flatter extremities of the wings. A good kick from Will to the left flank was well caught by Ryan who looked to have squeezed past the last man and score but he was hauled down and then Cinderford were penalised trying to slow down the ball. Will kicked for the corner and Stroud had an attacking lineout. Laurie was lifted high but expert throwing from Orgy managed to miss his man and instead find our pacey new flanker at the rear. He set the backs off to the right and Keyan and Dave both crashed up the middle but were held out. Stroud secured the ball well at a ruck and Darion picked the ball from the base and powered over the line. Will’s excellent kick from wide was converted and Stroud had closed to 33-12, but most importantly could claim this as a double win due to their innovative interpretation of the rules.

The Cinderford coaches shouted over “next try wins” – so they had heard our plan! We politely declined their offer and sat back to plan our revenge against Clifton.

Cinderford kicked high and short. Orgy showed great technique and bravery to pluck the ball from the sky. Stroud went through a few phases and then lost the ball to Cinderford who then also lost control through a forward pass. Stroud's pack won their scrum and Keyan was given another attacking chance. Again he was closed down quickly and Cinderford stole another turnover. They quickly attacked left with their powerful #8. He showed great technique to move the ball on left as Stoner smashed him to the ground, and Cinderford ran in another easy try from a turnover. Another good kick from wide via the post made it 40-12. But we were still claiming the win…..

The last action of the game was some good tackling by Euan and Mr T and the inevitable pounding runs from the Cinderford forwards that were eventually halted by a knock-on – and then the refs final whistle.

Full Time: Cinderford 40 – 12 Stroud

Both teams congratulated each other. Cinderford were claiming the victory. The ref agreed. The scoreline agreed, the match stats agreed. But Stroud still liked their version of the scoreline with their innovative way of encouraging our kids to play hard for a few phases.

We then decided to go for count-back on tries:
Cinderford Forwards 4
Cinderford Backs 2
Stroud Team 2

So it was a draw as we (Stroud interpretation) decided to ignore the Cinderford’s forwards tries as their home pitch advantage was unfair and their dominant forward pack knew how to exploit it.

No one likes a draw so we went in search for a tie-breaker. We decided that our try at end of first half was the best try of the game – and it was – no one can disagree with that! So that was enough for us to claim victory again.

To carry on our discussion and try and agree the final result we returned back to Cinderford’s main ground and enjoy their post-match hospitality. Clutching at more straws we downed some lager shandies and returned back to Stroud to lick our wounds and read more books from Bear Gryll’s who was now coach Samak’s inspiration for the post match debrief – you had to be there to get that joke….

Well played Cinderford. We’ll give you this victory in hindsight as you were better than us on the day and my rose tinted glasses have just fallen off my face and I’ve re-read my notes properly !!!