A second-half revival which saw Blues score 24 unanswered points sealed Macclesfield’s first win in seven.

A pair of tries from Frankie Barker either side of half-time, and further scores from Josh Fowles, Charlie Mulchrone and Ryan Parkinson sealed a bonus point for a 19th time this season.

Director of rugby Geoff Wappett was in high spirits as his side completed a deserved double over their opponents.

He said: “There were plenty of indicators in the first half that we could beat these guys and we managed it. We stopped making the silly errors and the mistakes we made in the first half we learned from and didn’t repeat in the second half.

“We conceded a couple of soft tries from set pieces which wasn’t very clever but we learned from that.”

Blues’ captain Tom Eaton slotted a routine penalty after four minutes but Cinderford hit back with a try through Navarro Codlin; the first of two for the speedy wide man.

Blues responded brilliantly though and were moving the ball forward with ease, Barker finishing off a superb move in the corner.

Despite having the upper hand, Macc were unable to make it count on the scoreboard, and were punished as two tries in five minutes shot the visitors into an 11-point lead.

Eaton’s second penalty cut the deficit to eight before Cinderford’s fourth try of the half made it 24-11 at the break.

Blues rallied after the interval and it paid off as Mulchrone collected the ball at the back of an attacking scrum and offloaded to Barker, who had made a looping run before touching down right of the posts.

The atmosphere was fierce and it began to get heated when an altercation broke out, leading to both sides losing a player to the sinbin.

This didn’t halt Blues’ comeback as Mulchrone went from supplier to scorer a minute later, combining well with Ed Stobart.

Starting at full-back Matt O’Regan looked lively throughout and almost created a lead for Blues, but his offload to Stobart was lost just metres short.

Cinderford threw everything at the hosts as they looked to restore what had been a healthy lead, but Macc’s defence continued to hold firm despite problems with their scrummaging.

Blues’ patience paid off as they turned defence into attack to take the lead and seal at least a bonus point; replacement hooker Dave Blackwell surging down the middle of the pitch before playing in Fowles for the score, converted by Eaton.

Cinderford looked a broken side and the result was put beyond doubt when Ryan Parkinson crossed to give his side an unassailable 11-point lead.

Blues’ problems in the front-row continued though, and Cinderford were awarded a penalty try for the hosts collapsing ofa drive involuntarily. That only served as a consolation for the Gloucestershire side however.

The win means Blues cannot finish any lower than sixth and a win next week, as well as results going their way could see Geoff Wappett’s men go into the summer in fifth in National One.

He added: “We were far more patient on the most part today.

“Ed (Stobart) could have had a try but had a rush of blood, offloaded to no-one and we lost the ball. Had we rucked that ball we could have scored but we learned from that.

“We will go to Wharfedale on Saturday with fifth place in the league in our reach so that remains our focus and in that sense we have plenty to play for.”