National League One
Launceston 22
Cinderford 18
CINDERFORD slipped back into the relegation zone following a frustrating afternoon at Launceston's Polson Bridge Ground.
The visitors were left fuming by some indifferent refereeing throughout, but only had themselves to blame for allowing the Cornish side back into the game after they led 13-5 at the interval.
A well executed move by the backs saw Cinderford open the scoring after just seven minutes of play. Winger Nev Codlin burst beneath the posts for a try which Danny Trigg converted.
Launceston quickly responded with number eight Mike Rawlings touching down for an unconverted try.
Both Trigg and home kicker Jake Murphy were off target with attempts at goal before Trigg made amends with a successful penalty on 33 minutes.
Cinderford put the home line under a lot pressure as half-time approached, but as they went for the try the referee called them back rather than play the advantage.
He awarded them a penalty which Trigg put over, but three points could easily have been seven.
Launceston took advantage of gifted possession at the start of the second-half and Ben Turner sped over in the corner to make it 13-10.
Two more tries followed for Launceston as they wrestled control of the match away from Cinderford.
Richard Bright finished of a terrific bout of passing, before Rawlings grabbed his second try after a line-out catch-and-drive from his forwards. Markey added the conversion to make it 22-13 on 62 minutes.
Cinderford responded with a textbook catch-and-drive of their own to set up number eight George Evans for a try, but the conversion was missed. This was to prove crucial as the Forest team laid siege to the Launceston line in the closing stages.
Quite how Cinderford failed to get the winning score in the dying minutes will remain a mystery, as Launceston desperately defended their line.
Several penalties, a free-kick and a yellow card were conceded but somehow they held on.
Cinderford: Danny Trigg, Nevaro Codlin, Dave Knight, Dewi Scourfield, Paul Boston, Mark Davies, Sam Brown, Paul Price, Chris Hall (capt), Chris Bundy, Mark Rimmer, Ed King, Luke Allen, Adam Nicholls, George Evans. Reps: Dave McKee for Mark Rimmer 55mins, Sam Wilkes for Chris Hall 55mins, Matt Betty for Paul Boston 64mins, Steve Price for Chris Bundy 68mins. Not used: Luke Carter.