Rumney : 15.M.O'Neill 14.M.Maclean 13.I.Blackburn 12.P.Niblett (Capt) 11.H.Amadife 10.J.Macdonald  9.B.Morris 1.R.Hanmer  2.M.Feneck  3.C.Gale 4.M.Kelly  5.A.Gardner  6.W.Price 7.R.Sutton 8.C.Jones  Replacements : C.Brincat M.Harrington T.Dickens J.Offside

Referee : Huw Rees

Scorers for Rumney : M.O'Neill try, H.Amadife try, I.Blackburn try, C.Jones try, M.Maclean try and 3 conversions and 2 penalties

Scorers for Hirwaun : C.Smith try, A.Thomas penalty

It was the first time that Hirwaun and Rumney had ever met and the visitors were in running mood right from the start. After six minutes play Rumney formed a ruck deep in Hirwaun territory and outside half James Macdonald spun the ball wide to Paul Niblett who in turn fired another long pass to fellow centre Ian Blackburn. Full back Paddy O'Neill collected on the burst and supplied right wing Matthew Maclean with the ball which put him over in the corner for the excellent opening try. Hirwaun lock Darryl Davies was showing impressive form but strong tackling by No8 Chris Jones and the good defensive combination of half backs Ben Morris and Macdonald kept the home side on the back foot and allowed the visitors to gain turnover ball, but after fifteen minutes Hirwaun were awarded a penalty for hands in the loose and Andrew Thomas's successful kick closed the gap to 3 - 5. Within minutes Maclean replied with a penalty and in the twenty fifth minute he added another to stretch the lead to 3 - 11. With Morris causing problems through his sniping, blindside runs and lock Andrew Gardner and flanker Will Price finding gaps in midfield, play was kept mostly in the Hirwaun half of the field.

Rumney flanker Ryan Sutton was dominating the lineout and when he stole opposition ball in his own half it gave his three quarters the chance to breakout. When Blackburn burst to the opposition ten metre line he was tackled and set up the second phase from which Morris's sharp delivery again released the backs and wing Henry Amadife finished the move with another fine corner try.

The opening minutes of the second half found Sutton taking more opposition ball in the lineouts, and with Morris and Macdonald continuing to create space, Blackburn was proving increasingly difficult to contain. Hirwaun's speedy flanker Darren Jones succeeded in making inroads into the visitors' defence but when Darryl Davies was sin binned, Rumney took advantage of the situation to camp in the opposition twenty two and control the forward exchanges there. After a series of close range scrums the Hirwaun back row were expecting Morris to break wide and in concentrating on the threat posed by the scrum half, left a big gap which Jones cleverly spotted and he neatly dummied over from the base of the scrum. Maclean's conversion took the score to 3 - 23 but after an hour's play Hirwaun were awarded a penalty on the Rumney twenty two and from a well worked set move, centre Craig Smith crossed for a try, but Macdonald's accurate boot kept his side moving forward and incisive work by wing Henry Amadife and centre Paul Niblett maintained play mostly in Hirwaun territory. More clean ball from Sutton again set his backs into action and a deceptive inside flick from Niblett to Blackburn on the burst, put the powerful threequarter on an unstoppable thrust through the defence for a great try under the posts.

Following Maclean's conversion Hirwaun may have been trailing by 8 - 30, but they entered their best phase of play and exerted sustained forward pressure which was only relieved when they conceded a penalty. With five minutes left on the clock Sutton was still running the show at the line out and scrum half Tom Dickens and Macdonald used the ball well to launch the threequarters again and involve Maclean, whose short pass put O'Neill through the gap for a final brilliant try. Maclean's conversion concluded the scoring and although Hirwaun pressed strongly, the visitors' defence stood firm and Rumney collected their third, impressive away win in a row.

Dave Escott, Rumney RFC : "A very workmanlike performance. Rumney played all the rugby and although the Hirwaun pack was much heavier, we outplayed them and looked very comfortable with the ball in our hands. All nineteen players did a good job for the club."

Above, left to right : physio Becky Elliott, Tom Dickens, Will Price, Ian Blackburn