Old Albanian seemed to have most of this match under control in that they dominated possession and territory for fully two thirds of the time allotted writes Brian Quinn.

But it is a fact of the game that when you have your opponents under pressure, when you are threatening their goal line, especially for long periods of time, you must come away with points, however scored. Successful drop goals are acceptable and converted tries are even more welcome but if nothing is put on the board another factor creeps into the makeup: morale.

As time wore on last Saturday afternoon it seemed to become more apparent that Albanians were having trouble finishing off carefully contrived buildup moves, some of which, especially those involving Danny Holmes and Nathan Earle, were spectacular. This also came more and more to dominate the visitors’ thinking and their confidence grew visibly as Albanian attacks faltered on the rocks of a well-ordered defence.

An ill-considered crossfield pass presented Cinderford with the first clear opportunity and Jack Adams gratefully accepted the interception and sped forty metres to the posts. Mike Wilcox made no mistake with the conversion.

Richard Gregg reduced the arrears with a penalty but a clumsy tackle in midfield gave the Foresters an opportunity to kick for the corner which Wilcox managed with aplomb. In classic fashion No8 Adam Balding was driven over from the ensuing lineout for Wilcox to improve. Half time 3-14.

The second half was notable for two reasons: Cinderford’s increasingly confident defence and the fact that they were able to repel every Albanian assault despite playing for half an hour with only fourteen players on the field.

Still, Gregg scored his second penalty to keep his side in range and closed it to manageable proportions with his third going into the last quarter. Wilcox made a mess of a simple shot but with minutes remaining gave the visitors an eight point cushion. This proved to be enough and appropriately it was Wilcox who kicked the ball dead to end this last fixture at Woollams until September.

Next weekend A’s travel to Fylde and will be wanting to end on a positive note. Kick off 15.00.