Cinderford overcome a difficult opening to secure a 53–31 victory over Loughborough Students in an entertaining National League Two West encounter, writes Jules Evans.

The visitors made a flying start and opened the scoring from a lineout on the Cinderford 22.

Their attack proved too much for the home defence, with Seb Rodriguez-Davis finishing well in the corner before Felix Champain added the conversion.

Loughborough quickly doubled their advantage from sustained pressure close to the Cinderford line which eventually saw hooker Henry Bonetti bundled over.

Champain again converted to give the Students a 14-point advantage after five minutes.

Cinderford needed a response and found one through Kyle Harris, who crossed for the home side's opening try after eight minutes.

Sam Smith then added another after a powerful run down the right-hand side saw him finish in the corner.

However, Loughborough continued to pose a threat and Connor Van Lille was next to cross. Champain's conversion stretched the visitors' advantage to 21–10 after just 18 minutes.

With the game threatening to get away from them, Cinderford began to find their rhythm.

Prop Ollie Johnson provided an important score, with Joe Winfield adding the conversion, before a clever kick through opened the door for Cormac Saint.

The scrum-half raced onto the ball to score and Winfield converted again as Cinderford took the lead for the first time.

Winfield then made a telling contribution of his own, intercepting in midfield before racing clear to the line.

He converted his own try as Cinderford completed a remarkable turnaround to lead 31–21 at half-time.

Cinderford almost extended their advantage immediately after the restart.

A kick-through produced a race for the ball beyond the try line, but Loughborough recovered well.

It was the visitors who struck next. Louis Nancekivell was released down the right following an offload and finished in the corner to reduce the deficit to five.

Cinderford's response was immediate. Rio Ebanks crossed for the home side and Winfield's conversion moved Cinderford further ahead.

Loughborough refused to go away and, following another lineout, drove towards a congested Cinderford try line.

The home defence was unable to keep them out and Monty Wells touched down for 38–31 – but from that point Cinderford took control.

A powerful home maul proved too much for the Students, with Jacob Perkins emerging as the try scorer before Winfield once again added the extras.

Smith then claimed his second try of the afternoon, breaking through the defensive line with pace before finishing confidently.

Winfield rounded off the scoring with a penalty to compete a 53–31 victory for Cinderford.

Cinderford Director of Rugby Clive Stuart-Smith said: “We were very slow to start and had flashbacks of last weekend.

“Thankfully we found our rhythm and built our way back into the game with some very good decision-making coupled with moments of individual brilliance.

“We were far more positive on the ball and fixed a number of system issues from last week.”