On a bitterly cold day at the Northern Arena, a much needed victory for DMPRFC, which came courtesy of a last gasp Warren SEALS drop goal, breaking the hearts of the Forest of Dean men who had battled hard all afternoon.

It felt like an episode of ‘Below Zero’, as both sets of supporters and club officials were dressed for Arctic temperatures, with the only consolation for the players in such conditions being the rucks, mauls and scrums to keep warm.

Although the game was short of tries, there was a considerable amount of effort from both sides and defences won the day in the end.

On display were two mid-table teams struggling to find any mid-season form, both desperate for a win by any means, both lacking in confidence and anxious to add points to their tallies before the end of the year.

The home side were first to test the opposition, going close in the first quarter, only prevented from going over the line with some impressive visitors defence.

As the first half wore only, onlookers seemed to settle for a scoreless half-time with both sides locked, neither seeming able to register on the scoreboard.

Just before oranges, Mowden attacked first left, then right, with home fly half Garry Law managing to squeeze into the corner for the first try, (5 – 0) regaining his composure to assuredly dissect the uprights for the extras. (7 – 0).

As half time arrived, that slim margin remained, as the players haste for warmth added an extra spring in their step, as they trotted into the changing rooms for hot refreshments in addition to the customary, but fictional orange.

No sooner had the referee’s whistle had heralded the second half, when Cinderford struck back to level the scores after only three minutes. A mix up in the home defence allowed winger Jacob Morris to profit, running in unopposed (7 – 5), with full back Liam Hemming adding the conversion to level the scores.

A lot of endeavour followed, as neither side seemed to want to push on to take the spoils and where opportunities to do so were in short supply, as again stern defence was the order of the day and the game looked to be heading towards the draw.

DMPRFC looked to have won it with a minute to go, when Garry Law struck a low drop goal attempt, but it drifted wide.

From the restart, home lock Talite Vaiolti gathered and galloped into the heart of the visitors, setting up good ball deep in their territory. Pick and drive attempts took Mowden deeper towards the red zone, but again some excellent defence prevailed, until home centre Warren Seals calmly, but assuredly kicked the drop goal for the win.

That was it and whilst DMPRFC celebrated the slim victory at the death, Cinderford’s dejection was palpable and there is an argument that they perhaps deserved more than the single losing point they salvaged from the game.

However, as previous results have indicated, when games are as tight as this, 80+ minute performances are required from the players to prevail in what is the most competitive National League One season for some seasons.