Both teams would have been full of confidence following wins in week one but the Lions suffered a big blow in the morning when captain and prop Tom Williams had to withdraw from the squad due to illness. The Lions scrum did a valiant job but ultimately the upper hand that Cinderford got in this area proved the difference.

Cinderford opened the scoring when a strong run from centre Will Baldwin set up the opening try for winger Mason Tonks, which Joe Winfield converted. The Lions responded well though and number 8 Nick Cairns scored through a lineout drive, with Dan Lewis converting. The Lions grew in to the game and made a couple of clean line breaks but errors with the final pass kept the score even for most of the first half. Just before half-time approached though Winfield landed a penalty kick to make it 10-7 at the interval.

Winfield added another penalty early in the second half to stretch the lead, but the Lions once again responded with a second try, from another driving lineout, this time from Simon Koroiyadi, which Lewis converted. Lewis was on target again with a penalty after 54 minutes to make it 13-17, but this time it was Cinderford who responded with a second try for Tonks after a line break by Mike Wilcox, with Winfield adding the extras. A third penalty from Winfield put the home side 23-17 up.

The Lions dominated the final exchanges and a series of penalties saw them continually go to the corner but resolute goal line defence from the home side saw them hold on for a hard-earned victory.

The Lions once again showed that they can compete with the best in National 1. 18 year old Charlie Myall, who is dual registered with Leicester Tigers, looked lively on debut in the centre and was awarded the Lions man of the match. There is clearly more to come from this young and exciting back line.

Head coach Gareth Collins commented: ‘‘We knew it would be a huge challenge coming here so we’re happy that we got a point but in all honesty we feel like we we missed a great opportunity today. We didn’t quite execute our game plan accurately enough and therefore didn’t set up as many chances as we hoped to. Having said that, we still created more than enough to win the game. That’s how it goes though - last week we defended our goal line with the last play to win and this week it was Cinderford who held their line at the end when we had the chance to steal it. Having just come up to Nat 1 and taken 5 points from our first two games against top opposition - of course we have to be happy with that.’’

The Lions return home next week to face Blackheath RFC who were promoted as champions of National 2 East.

Lions (1-15): Roberts, Taylor (c), Thompson, Godefroy. Ward, Koroiyadi, Murdoch, Cairns, Stubbs, Lewis, Satala, Myall, Hamilton, Sterland, Bouchier. Reps: Rudkin, Dawson, Coulson, Johnson, Patrick.