Rumney : 15.M.O'Neill 14.M.Miller 13.G.Bowen 12.A.Jones 11.R.Hallett 10.D.Clark 9.R.Lawson 1.P.Douglas 2.N.Ritchie 3.J.Harris 4.M.Kelly 5.C.Jones 6.R.Sutton 7.R.Fenton 8.S.Coles (Capt) Replacements : M.Harrington K.O'Connor J.Offside C.O'Donoghue
Referee : Steve Edwards (Pontypridd)
Scorers for Rumney : R.Hallett try, D.Clark conversion and 3 penalties
Scorers for Bargoed : J.Howells try and 3 conversions, R.Humphries try, S.Rose try
Rumney were in trouble in the scrums from the very start of the game and after a powerful forward drive, Bargoed outside half Jamie Howells soon brought off a neat blindside move to score a clever try and also add the conversion. In the sixth minute Rumney fly half Danny Clark slotted a penalty and the home side started to settle, with Clark kicking well, centre Anthony Jones thundering through midfield and flanker Ryan Sutton dominating the line out, but the visitors were always dangerous and a counterattack by full back Ian Jenkins was only stopped by a try saving tackle from home winger Rhys Hallett. After twenty two minutes Bargoed's forward pressure and control of the ball gave Howells the opportunity to conjure up a cheeky chip over the defence for centre Rhys Humphries to gather and score, Howells' conversion taking the score to 3 - 14. Another Clark penalty was followed by the try of the game when Hallett collected a loose kick five metres inside his own half, set off on a brilliant, elusive run which left seven tacklers grasping at air, and touched down at the posts. Clark's conversion closed the gap and when he put over another penalty, Rumney found themselves with a 16 - 14 half time lead.
The second period started with the home side gaining more control, particularly in the lineouts and loose play, and with Anthony Jones, lock Chris Jones and flanker Ryan Fenton tackling ferociously and captain Stuart Coles breaking well from the base of the scrum, the threat from Bargoed's big pack was largely contained. Both sides were forced into numerous errors but in the seventy fifth minute, confusion at a Rumney lineout gave the visitors the chance to break out of defence and a fine handling movement ended with Bargoed hooker Steven Rose touching down under the posts. It was the only score of the half and took Bargoed back into the lead, Howell's successful conversion producing a final score of 16-21.
Stuart Coles, Captain Rumney 1st XV : "It was disappointing to lose after putting in all the effort, we had our chances in the second half but didn't take them. After early problems in the scrum the front five responded well and the attitude from 1 to 15 was a massive improvement on last week. Ryan Sutton had his best game of the season so far, Ryan Fenton and Gareth Bowen were excellent and a special mention must be made for James Harris, playing out of position at tight head, who stuck to his task really well."
Con Ritchie, Rumney RFC : "A better display than last week, but this time we gave Bargoed a fourteen points start and although we controlled the second half, they had one chance and they took it to win the game. There were good performances from Neal Ritchie at hooker and Chris Jones at No8, flanker Ryan Fenton won a lot of good possession and centres Anthony Jones and Gareth Bowen played exceptionally well. The Man of the Match was Chris Jones."
Steve Barber, Coach Bargoed 1st XV : "Our scrummage was excellent, it always is, but apart from that we were flat and performed very poorly at times. Ross Jones had a good game at prop and Ian Jenkins did well at full back."
