CINDERFORD United produced a spirited late fightback but suffered a 40-31 defeat away to league leaders Dings Knights on Saturday.

The visitors scored 19 unanswered points during the final 15 minutes, but their recovery came too late after a difficult opening hour.

Dings established a 14-0 advantage through two converted tries before Jake Bailey crossed to open United's account.

The hosts maintained their momentum, adding another two converted tries to extend their lead to 28-5.

United responded before the interval through Will Day, whose try was converted by Charlie Stallard, reducing the deficit to 28-12 at half-time.

However, Dings strengthened their position after the restart with two further tries, one converted, to establish a commanding 40-12 lead.

Facing a substantial deficit, United finally found their attacking rhythm during the closing stages.

Jack Hall crossed first before Dewi Wilcox added another try, which Stallard converted.

Stallard then scored United's fifth try and converted his own effort, completing a determined late rally that narrowed the final margin to nine points.

Despite the improvement, manager Paul Morris was disappointed with his side's overall performance.

He said: "Some players need to prove they are competitors and not mere participants. Just turning up is not good enough for Cinderford RFC."

Morris insisted his squad had the ability to challenge the division's strongest opponents but demanded greater consistency throughout matches.

He added: "I have no doubts as to how good we can be as a squad and at our best we can compete with anybody in the league."

The late response offered encouragement, but United were left reflecting on the earlier defensive lapses which allowed the league leaders to build an insurmountable advantage.

They will hope to reproduce their closing attacking display from the outset in future fixtures, while also addressing the mistakes that proved so costly against Dings.