A bright start amid the downpour ended in disappointment as Tonbridge Juddians lost 21-12 at home to Cinderford.

With the rain non-stop both sides fought the elements and stuck to the task at hand, Judds beginning the stronger of the two teams. They took a 6-0 lead courtesy of the ever-reliable Tom White.

With TJs intent on building a score through penalties, the away side looked to chase tries and, after a couple of failed attempts, Cinderford’s pressure finally told on the 30-minute mark. A series of penalties at the scrum was followed by a yellow card for Booby Bratton and a penalty try saw the visitors ahead.

White slotted a long-range penalty from just inside the Cinderford half as the hosts ended the first half on a high, but with Tonbridge playing into the wind in the second half it was always going to be a battle to stay in the lead.

White kept his cool to slot another penalty early into proceedings, but it was at this point the Cinderford game plan changed and they began to take shots at goal.

Tightening up their game and keeping it simple helped the away side slot three back-to-back penalties across the hour mark to push themselves in front.

For the final 20 minutes, TJs found themselves chasing the game. Eventually the desperation told and a dropped ball on the 10m line allowed Cinderford to pounce. Some wonderful hands from the outside backs allowed William Baldwin to streak into the right-hand corner, condemning TJs to their second defeat of the season.

Tonbridge will look to bounce back when they travel to Birmingham Moseley this Saturday.

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