NOT for the first time this season, Cinderford overturned a large deficit to claim National One victory.

It was 8-26 at half-time in favour of the men from Cheshire who started the day level on points with the Foresters.

Sale opened the scoring in the third minute with a try from Kieran Wilkinson, but his conversion attempt failed.

The home side soon responded when a neat off-load from Matthew Lane set up Will Hendy to dart over and tie up the game at 5-5 after 16 minutes..

However, it was Sale who hit back with three more tries, earning them a bonus point in the first half.

A sublime line-out move saw Josh Brown float a well-placed pass inside to Tom Walsh for his first score after 21 minutes

Wilkinson added the conversion to make it 5-12 in favour of the visitors.

Sale struck again within five minutes for their third score, when a loose goal-line drop-out exposed space on the blindside for Sam Dugdale to dot down.

Wilkinson was on target with the conversion and it was 5-19.

From the restart the home side exerted some pressure on their opponents and Mike Austin slotted over a penalty for some precious points on the board.

With the score at 8-19, set-piece magic came from Sale’s Wilkinson yet again as he stepped his way to a line break and gave the ball back to Walsh for his second a couple of minutes before the whistle.

Wilkinson added the extras to give Sale an 8-26 lead..

But that was not the end of the scoring in the first half as Cinderford responded in time added on through a Nathan Taylor try to go into the break 13-26.

The home side got their second half off to a perfect start when the outstanding Joe Mullis broke the line and set up Austin to race clear for a try, which he also converted after two minutes to reduce the difference to six points.

From this point the Foresters dominated for long periods but rarely looked like breaching a well-organised Sale defence.

They kept plugging away and, with five minutes remaining, a strong driving maul rumbled towards their opponents’ line, only to be brought down illegally and the referee award a penalty try.

There was still to be late drama however when the visitors were awarded a penalty right on the final whistle.

Wilkinson’s attempt at goal was blown off target allowing Cinderford to celebrate a thrilling victory.

Cinderford: Jamie Forrester, Mason Tonks, Will Baldwin, George Boulton, Will Hendy, Mike Wilcox, Mike Austin, Tim Brockett, Nathan Taylor, Shaun Knight, Tyler Jerrum, Jack Shields, Matt Lane, Joe Mullis, Harry Hone (Capt.)

Replacements; Alex Chalkin, George Porter, Dan Hodge, Aaron Ryan, Jimmy Williams.