A TRY from the evergreen Nick Royle was the difference between the two sides as Caldy came out on top against second placed Cinderford to close the gap on the top of National 1 in the process.

Both sides were equally matched in the opening exchanges with strong defences and teams looking to catch the other on the counter attack.

The opening score came in the sixth minute as Sam Dickinson scored in the corner after some powerful attacking play.

This sparked the visitors from Gloucestershire into life, however they found it difficult to breakdown the defence in the opening quarter of the game.

With five minutes remaining in the first half after some challenging play in the midfield Ben Jones broke and was given the freedom of the Cinderford half to score under the posts.

This ignited the Cinderford attack and they managed to claim two tries of their own before the break to reduce Caldy's advantage to just two points.

After the break the game became even more competitive with both sides finding it hard to break through and that was highlighted when Caldy were rewarded a penalty try after a ruck on line to the delight of the crowd on the bank.

Cinderford came back a third time with Baldwin crossing to close the gap again, but the joy was shortlived as Royle showed he still had power and speed in his 38-year-old legs just two minutes later.

Cinderford attacked for the final ten minutes but were unable to bounce back a fourth time. As the final whistle was blown the celebrations on the pitch showed what a vital five points this could be by the end of the season in April.

Third-placed Caldy now take their impressive record on the road to Birmingham Moseley, looking to avenge the 24-0 defeat at Paton Field in September.

Moseley beat Blackheath 22-17 away on Saturday the teams only victory in their last six matches.