South West Division One

Cinderford 24, Truro 6

WILL Cinderford get things all their own way in the league this season?

Judging from results to date the Forest team will face their greatest challenge from Cheltenham's Old Patesians and north Devon team, Barnstaple.

All three clubs are so far unbeaten with Cinderford on top of the table but with the other sides with games in hand.

The crunch games come in November but before then the Dockham Road boys have an appointment much closer to home – just half a dozen miles across the Forest at Berry Hill's Lakers Road.

It will be the classic clash of rugby's "haves" and "have-nots."

With a shortage of cash not just to keep their top players but to buy players in, life is a struggle for the Hillmen. Not so at Cinderford where director of rugby Dennis Hargreaves has rattled the purse and negotiated vigorously to produce a side he believes should deliver the goods – promotion.

But Hargreaves is a rugby realist and he knows from bitter experience that Lakers Road on Saturday week will not be a holiday camp for his troops. The last time they went there Berry Hill deservedly came out on top.

"Berry Hill played with passion and pride. We just turned up and expected to win. They may be bottom of the table but they will be switched on and very determined. It will not be easy," he said.

Hargreaves was hesitant to give his team too much praise for Saturday's victory over Truro, describing the performance as "workmanlike".

"We still have things to work on. There were too many turn-overs which better teams might have exploited and we spilled the ball a couple of times in promising situations," he said.

That said, he was pleased with his defence and encouraged by the return of captain Duncan Edwards who has now recovered from a hamstring injury. "He gave our midfield more direction," he said.

Hargreaves also praised Mark Nicholls for some impressive driving play from number eight. "Unfortunately we did not always give him support and some of the good work he did was for nothing," said Hargreaves.

Winning South West One remains the target but a run in the Intermediate Cup would not go amiss and the trail begins this Saturday at Coney Hill.

Cinderford scorers against Truro were: Tries Leon Liggett, James Broady, Peter Miles; conversions, Matt Sherratt (3); penalty, Sherratt.