Rumney : 15.C.Wills 14.M.Cawley 13.I.Higgins 12.N.Stork(Capt.) 11.D.Willey 10.M.Armstrong 9.G.Cleaver 1.G.Cox 2.P.Harris 3.N.Hennessy 4.P.Langley 5.G.Harrington 6.A.Moore 7.W.O'Connor 8.A.Grabham Subs : 16.A.Boyd 17.L.Ngungutau 18.R.Walsh 19.N.Coles 20.G.Kemble 21.G.Lucas 22.I.McIntyre

Scorers for Rumney : David Willey try, Mark Armstrong try and conversion and penalty

Scorers for Merthyr : G.Thomas try, C.Payne try, S.Davies 1 conversion and 3 penalties

In a hard fought game Merthyr came from behind to snatch victory from their visitors at The Wern. Rumney dominated the first half with second rows Paul Langley and Grant Harrington controlling the lines out and often taking possession from the home side's throws. Outside half Mark Armstrong opened Rumney's account with a penalty after twenty five minutes and followed it up shortly afterwards with a fine solo try which left Merthyr defenders on the floor as he dummied his way through to score under the posts. Armstrong converted to give his side a 10 - 0 lead but Merthyr hit back straight away with a three quarter movement which lead to full back Gethin Thomas being driven over the line by his supporting forwards and touching down for the try. Rumney still showed plenty of attacking flair and left wing David Willey cut through for a try which restored the lead to 15 - 5. Stuart Davis replied with a penalty to make the half time score Merthyr 8 Rumney 15. The second half saw a transformed Merthyr side winning loose ball and creating turnovers before Chris Payne scored their second try. Davies converted and added two more penalties for offside offences and despite a number of powerful upfield drives, Rumney could not turn their late efforts into points and trailed by six points at full time.

Shaun Lee, Coach Rumney RFC 1st XV : "A very disappointing outcome to a game we dominated throughout. I am sure the squad feel very annoyed with themselves for letting this game out of the bag. We must not let this affect us, we are a good squad and this will show itself as the season progresses. Man of the Match - Dave Willey."