Rumney : 15.M.Milsom 14.H.Amadife 13.I.Blackburn 12.P.Niblett (Capt) 11.J.Offside 10.J.Macdonald  9.G.Tattersall 1.R.Hanmer  2.M.Feneck 3.C.Walton 4.M.Harrington 5.M.Kelly  6.C.Barker 7.R.Sutton 8.C.Jones  Replacements :  P.Nash C.Brincat A.Gardner W.Price

Tredegar squad : D.Carter D.Morris M.Penny J.Richards L.Llewellyn G.Kearney S.King S.Jarman S.Evans J.Dawson C.Edwards S.Edwards S.Rees B.Sullivan D.Knowles I.Jones W.Fisher P.Edwards C.Stone S.Osborne B.Mountney R.Roberts A.Quick M.Vaughn J.Purcell A.Green D.Davies

Scorers for Rumney : J.Offside try, J.Macdonald try, R.Sutton try, G.Tattersall 4 penalties and 2 conversions

Scorers for Tredegar : S.Osborne try, D.Carter penalty

The game started with the big Tredegar pack being contained in their own half, pushed back in the scrums and unable to break out because of fierce Rumney tackling. In the third minute the visitors were penalised for not releasing the ball and scrum half Gethin Tattersall landed a fine long range kick for the opening points. Tredegar showed that they wanted to play a running game in the warm, firm conditions but their real strength lay in their skill in forward drives and when Rumney gave away a penalty in their twenty two, Daryl Carter levelled the scores after fifteen minutes. It only took three minutes for the home side to regain the lead when Tattersall accurately put over another penalty and their forwards started to carve gaps in the visitors' defence with Michael Feneck leading the charge into the opposition twenty two and gaining a free kick there. Tattersal took a quick tap and spread the ball left where outside half James Macdonald fed No8 Chris Jones who set up a clean ruck. Tattersal now switched right finding lock Michael Kelly on the charge, Kelly sent centre Paul Niblett off on a sidestepping jink to supply flanker Ryan Sutton with the ball and Sutton's superb, inside reverse flick deceived everyone except winger Joey Offside who neatly gathered the pass and darted over for the first try.

Sutton was in fine form, dominating the lineouts and Macdonald's tactical kicking continued to drive Tredegar back. The outside half controlled the game well, stretching the visitors' defences with good, wide play while Feneck started more forward breaks, enjoying close support from prop Craig Walton and from Sutton. Rumney lock Mark Harrington was also claiming much clean ball in the line and his quick possession for Tattersal was giving Macdonald plenty of time to set up moves. When Macdonald's snap pass to Niblett put the Rumney captain through a tiny gap, the centre tore forty metres upfield and when his pass to Sutton bounced off the flanker's knee, the outside half was following up at speed and gathered a difficult ball to cross unopposed for a good try, well converted by Tattersall.

Tredegar continued to exert pressure at forward but found Rumney ready to counterattack and break out of their own twenty two. In the fortieth minute Harrington again took clean possession from a line deep in his own half and this time Macdonald sent out a long pass to impressive centre Ian Blackburn who in turn fired out an equally long ball to full back Matthew Milsom on the burst. On the half way line Milsom passed to Offside who raced down the tramlines and supplied Sutton with an accurate inside pass which allowed the flying flanker to canter over for a stunning try. Tattersall's brilliant conversion gave his side a half time lead of 25 - 3 and concluded a period of twenty minutes in which Rumney had produced sustained and stunning, attacking rugby.

From the restart Tredegar created an excellent, controlled forward drive which led to a well taken try by Steve Osborne. This was the visitors' best period but with top quality work by Rumney prop Rhodri Hanmer, along with Feneck and Walton, the scrum could not be moved and Jones and fellow flanker Carl Barker were starting to create havoc, but Tredegar succeeded in containing the forward attacks and paid special attention to confining Rumney's dangerous wingers Offside and Henry Amadife. Tattersall maintained his highly accurate place kicking form and added penalties in the fifty fifth and sixty fifth minutes, resulting in a final score of Rumney 31 Tredegar 8.

Jim O'Brien, Rumney RFC : "Our first test of the season and an excellent all round performance, especially the last twenty minutes of the first half when Rumney were absolutely outstanding. When the chips were down, outside half James Macdonald controlled the game beautifully, and things are going to get even better. Ian Blackburn had a superb debut in the centre for Rumney and the half backs Gethin Tattersall and James Macdonald were outstanding."

Billy Coles, Rumney RFC : "Ryan Sutton is a better robber in the lineout than Dick Turpin."