Leeds Tykes scored two tries straight off the training ground but ultimately came up short against a forward-orientated Cinderford.
Leeds, looking to kickstart their campaign, produced something special as the ball went through several pairs of hands before reaching Seremaia Bai Turagebeci, who got on the outside and ran in unopposed. He dotted the ball down under the posts to give Charlie Venables the simplest of conversions.
That score sparked the visitors into life; five minutes later Mike Austin converted his own score to level proceedings.
Leeds opted to go for goal from a penalty just shy of 40 metres, but Kieran Davies’ effort faded narrowly wide from the angle.
The away side took control just as Leeds looked destined to regain the lead, Mike Wilcox seized a loose ball before offloading to James Forrester to score under the posts. Austin added the extras.
Nathan Taylor scored his first try just after the half hour as Cinderford’s driving maul gave them supremacy. Firm Tykes defence stopped the margin getting any wider before the interval.
The second half was a much tighter affair, with the play mostly in the middle third. Leeds had most of the possession but were let down by handling errors all too often.
Kieran Davies capped off the move of the game to give Leeds a sniff on 48 minutes. Venables ran a superb kick return and got an arm free to offload for the Welshman to sprint down the blindside and score.
Taylor bagged himself a brace to give Cinderford the bonus point on 57 minutes. Leeds dominated the closing stages but were unable to turn their territory into points.
Final score 12 – 24
(HT 7-19)
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