a look ahead to SATURDAY’s game
cinderford VS ROSSLYN PARK, Saturday 22nd APRIL, KO 3PM
The penultimate fixture of the 2022/23 season sees the 1st XV headed to 6th placed Cinderford this weekend.
Park currently sit in 4th, level on points with Plymouth on 78 pts ( having played 1 game fewer) and 5 points clear of this week’s opposition. Cinderford come into the contest on a poor run of form having lost 5 of their last 7 including a surprising 35-47 loss to relegation battlers Esher at home. Their most recent fixture also produced a defeat, however Cinderford should be encouraged by that fairly close 38-28 loss away at the league leaders last weekend.
Park have won twice and lost twice across the last 4 matches and they have yet to lose to Cinderford since the latter’s promotion to National 1 in 2018/19. Across those 6 fixtures, Park have picked up 6 wins, 4 bonus points and have beaten Cinderford by an average of 12.2 points per game. The most recent meeting between the two sides saw the 1st XV open the season with a dominant 46-26 victory at The Rock in September. In that match, Park ran in 6 tries through Luke Baldwin, Dan Laventure, Charlie Walker, Craig Holland, Tom Stanton and Ben Howard with POTM Holland also adding 6 points through penalties as he went 7/8 (88%) from the tee.
Cinderford likely need a win to secure their place in the top 6 with 7th placed Bishop’s Stortford breathing down their neck. Only one point separates them and a loss could see the Gloucestershire outfit leapfrogged on the last day of their season. Park, on the other hand, will be looking to fend off Plymouth Albion for sole control of 4th place which will likely require picking up 5 points across the final 2 matches.