National League One

Esher 41

WINGER Nev Codlin finished Saturday's match against Esher held up over the opposition's line.

It summed up a frustrating afternoon for the home side.

Codlin, who scored one of his side's five tries, said: "We felt the referee's calls went against us.

"A penalty was awarded against me for offside but I think he got his numbers mixed up because I was onside.

"There were a couple of other harsh penalties, including one against Jack Preece.

"We knew Esher would be a good side because they've been in the Championship, but we should have beat them. They didn't really have the edge we expected."

This thrilling 10-try contest went right down to the wire, with the visitors holding on in a dramatic finale.

The final whistle blew with Cinderford on the offensive – just minutes after back-row Rob Langley had scored their fifth try.

Esher opened the scoring when Chris Elder went over for a try which Luke Daniels converted.

Cinderford quickly responded with two tries of their own from Nev Codlin and England sevens man Jack Preece, handed his first start for the club at hooker. Mark Davies kicked a conversion for a 12-7 lead.

The game flowed from one end to the other in pulsating fashion.

Daniels and Davies traded penalties, with Ben West – back in a Cinderford shirt after starring for England Counties against France Amateurs – diving over for Cinderford's third try, converted by Davies. Esher finished the first half strongly and after a series of scrums near the home line were awarded a penalty-try, which Daniels converted.

That cut Cinderford's half-time advantage to just two points, at 22-20.

In the second half Davies slotted a 46th minute penalty, but a three-try salvo in little more than 10 minutes effectively won the game for Esher.

Both sides had a man in the sin-bin at the time, with Cinderford's Luke Allen and Esher's Pete Synnott both shown yellow cards.

Allen never returned and was eventually replaced by Will Foden.

First to score was scrum-half Andy Garner, who scrambled over in the corner. This was followed by a superb individual effort from full-back Charlie Walker, who returned a kick inside his own 22 and raced clear to touchdown.

Prop Ollie Mines was driven over from a line-out catch-and-drive. Daniels converted all three tries to maintain his 100 per cent kicking record.

The game looked beyond Cinderford but they staged a thrilling comeback in the final quarter.

Winger Lloyd Stapleton went over in the corner following a cross-field kick from Davies, who also landed the conversion.

Then Rob Langley scored to set up a rousing finish.

Cinderford were doing all the pressing at the death, but Esher held on.

Codlin added: "It's good that we've got a licence to play but we need to tighten up our defence a bit. Compared to last year, we've conceded too many points."

Cinderford: Mike Wilcox, Nev Codlin, Jack Adams (capt), Dewi Scourfield (Kai Done 76), Lloyd Stapleton, Mark Davies, Danny Pointon, Joe Smart (Chris Bundy 66), Jack Preece (Tom Bozzard 60), Nick Selway, Ben West, Ed King (Dale Critchley 60), Luke Allen (Will Foden 60), Rob Langley, Joe Garner.

Man of the match: Joe Garner