Last updated 10:02, Friday, 31 October 2008

Tynedale's hopes of their first away win of the season were left in cinders after their first-ever visit to Dockham Road.

Cinderford 29, Tynedale 22.

They were frustrated by the ponderous Panzer-like progress of the Forest of Dean side’s hulking forwards, who hogged the ball for much of the match.

And whenever Tynedale endeavoured to wrest it from then, they were deemed to have committed an infringement by referee Philip Davies.

Fed-up fans grumbled that the spectacle was more like a Rugby League match than a National League Division Two Rugby Union fixture –”but at least in Rugby League, you get the ball back every sixth tackle!”

Tynedale were nonplussed as to how they were supposed to gain possession, if they were not allowed to compete for it, and had to rely on scraps of knock-ons or dropped balls.

It was rather less interesting than coastal erosion to watch, but even the faithful had to concede that the Cinderford game plan was as effective as it was dull.

Having ruined the game as a spectacle,though, Cinderford did provide a grandstand finish, when their scrum half, skipper and man of the match Paul Knight celebrated scoring his side’s final try in inglorious fashion.

He and Tynedale’s gadfly of a number nine Ross Samson had been needling each other throughout the game – so after scoring, Knight aimed a head-butt at the curly-haired Caledonian.

No serious contact was made, but it was done in full view of Mr Davies, who had no option but to show Knight a red card.

The disgrace of the dismissal – and the fact he could be facing an automatic 12-game ban – seemed to have escaped the home crowd, who cheered his triumphal walk of shame to the echo.

Tynedale’s disciplinary woes also mounted, with yellow cards for Aaron Charlton and Stuart Johnson taking the total into double figures

Tynedale were without the prodigious talents of forward Andrew Murray, who was at a wedding, but they did welcome back the lanky lock Eni Gesinde, who has been missing since the first game of the season, when his ribs were stoved in by a Cornish fist.

Flanker Grant Rastall, who has been nursing an injury, was rested.

Cinderford kicked off with the benefit of a stiff breeze, on a damp and drizzly day, but happily, not the torrential rain which had been forecast.

Tynedale began brightly, tossing the ball around, but on three minutes, a tackler failed to roll away, and Cinderford’s Dan Trigg opened the scoring with a simple penalty.

The lead was doubled on 10 minutes, when Tynedale offended at the breakdown, and Trigg obliged once more.

Things could have been worse for Tynedale two minutes later, when home fly half put in a delightful cross kick which found James Copley on the edge of the Tynedale 22.

He chose to kick ahead, but put too much boot on the ball, so it ran dead, with full back Jack Smales nowhere.

Tynedale counter-attacked through winger Peter Cole., who rounded off some entertaining rugby with a surging run from 22 to 22, but the ball was lost at the breakdown.

Tynedale were soon back through, with a Jack Harrison break being continued by Smales, who fed James Hoyle, but the winger was bundled into touch five metres out.

Joe Graham got in on the act with a pounding break from halfway, but the ball was lost forward in the tackle.

Tynedale finally got in right in the 25th minute when Samson made a good break. which was continued by Gesinde, before Graham managed to force his way over the line to take the score of 6-5.

Gavin Beasley missed the conversion, and soon afterwards, Tynedale were missing Graham.

He tried to soldier on with a strapped up foot, but had to give way to replacement Aaron Charlton.

Just a minute after coming on, Charlton was on his way off again, sent to the sin bin for failing to roll away from a tackle as the Tynedale line was under pressure.

That gave Tynedale a problem, for although replacement Matthew Fieldhouse is a competent hooker, he had not been declared as such in the match paperwork.

Conscious of Cinderford’s mighty pack, skipper Jamie Murray hopefully called for uncontested scrums, but to no avail.

Stuart Johnson was sacrificed to allow Dan Herdman to come on. and the siege of the Tynedale line began.

There were innumerable pick and drives by the Cinderford pack, and the 14-man Tynedale defence was magnificent, repelling them time after time.

Finally though, the dam was breached, with centre David Knight forcing his way over two minutes into injury time.

Trigg’s conversion made it 13-5.

It could have been more, when from a scrum, Paul Knight broke blind into the Tynedale 22, but his pass to a lumbering prop, who had the line at his mercy, was knocked on.

Cinderford did extend their lead 10 minutes into the second half though, when Trigg slotted his third penalty.

Things got blacker 15 minutes in, when the Cinderford juggernaut was rolling on, and Stuart Johnson executed a classic steal of the ball from the lumbering hordes.

At least, it seemed classical – until the referee flourished his yellow card, and ordered the flanker off.

Trigg put over the penalty to make it a formidable 19-5, but Tynedale refused to lie down, and Gavin Beasley landed a penalty when Cinderford were hanging on in the tackle.

Trigg missed a penalty on 18 minutes, but depleted Tynedale were unable to prevent prop Phil Kennedy clattering over two minutes later for an unconverted try.

And they could have scored again when flanker Adam Nicholls made a clean break from a line-out, seeming unstoppable as he steamed into the Tynedale half.

Then, his hamstring appeared to twang, bringing him to an agonised halt, and the danger evaporated.

Tynedale stormed to the other end with a dazzling handling movement which ended with Jack Harrison crossing for an excellent try, well converted by Beasley.

In the latter stages, Cinderford managed to disrupt a Tynedale scrum five metres out, and forced their way over the line, but the referee ruled they had failed to ground the ball.

With three minutes of normal time left, and after more resilient Tynedale defending, the excellent Knight touched down under the Tynedale posts – before foolishly getting himself sent off for his head-butt.

It was too late to make any real difference, but Tynedale rallied for a last hurrah, which ended with replacement Matthew Fieldhouse going in for the try.

Jack Smales converted with a drop kick, to ensure Tynedale gained a losing bonus point.