Rumney : 15.P.Niblett (Capt) 14.P.Carlton 13.G.Bowen 12.A.Jones 11.M.O'Neill 10.D.Clark  9.C.Smith  1.J.Leadbeatter 2.C.O'Donoghue 3.D.Evans 4.M.Kelly  5.E.James  6.R.Sutton 7.R.Fenton 8.S.Coles  Replacements : M.Way M.Feneck C.Miller C.Fitzpatrick

Referee : Chris Williams

Scorers for Rumney : M.O'Neill 3 tries, A.Jones try, C.O'Donoghue try, D.Clark 2 conversions and 4 penalties

Scorers for Ynysybwl : J.Read try, S.Evans try, A.Thomas try and 2 conversions and 3 penalties

Rumney were rocked when errors led to them being 12 - 0 down after three minutes play at the Ynysybwl Recreation Ground. There were less than sixty seconds on the clock when Ynysybwl centre and Captain James Read pounced on a chargedown for his side's first try, which was converted by fullback Adam Thomas, and two minutes later home flanker Sean Evans gratefully snapped up a wayward Rumney throw in and skipped over unopposed for their second touchdown. After torrential rain the pitch was in remarkably good condition and allowed Rumney to run and handle from the start, forwards Michael Kelly, Ryan Fenton and David Evans soon finding space in which to operate and Captain and fullback Paul Niblett making telling breaks out of defence. Despite their substantial early lead, Ynysybwl found themselves mostly on the backfoot as visiting No8 Stuart Coles, second row Emyr James and centres Anthony Jones and Gareth Bowen all drove them back and eventually forced a penalty which outside half Danny Clark slotted in the fifteenth minute. Rumney hooker Colin O'Donoghue and prop John Leadbeatter were outstanding from the start and although the backs were making numerous handling errors, few felt that the mistakes would continue throughout the match and that the visitors' skills would soon pay off. After nineteen minutes Rumney scrum half Craig Smith put in a clever kick from the back of a scrum which Fenton chased and gathered superbly, and aided by flanker Ryan Sutton, sent Clark away, the fly half dummying through and putting winger Michael O'Neill in at the corner. Having battled back to 12 - 8 and with Coles driving twenty and thirty metres at a time, and Sutton regularly claiming his own and the opposition's lineout balls, Rumney still made a string of errors and in the twenty fifth minute lost possession resulted in Ynysybwl fullback Thomas bursting through for a good try and conversion. Even though the score was again stretched to 19 - 8, the visiting forwards were clearly confident of success and when James stole a loose Ynysybwl lineout ball, Fenton and the Rumney pack drove over for O'Donoghue to finish off the try. The home side showed their willingness to spread the ball wide, scrum half Philip Davies, Thomas and Read proving difficult to contain, but Rumney's James, Fenton and Sutton were now carving out huge gaps and depsite the visitor's high error count continuing, it was clear that trailing by only 19 - 13 and with the wind at their backs in the second period, confidence was increasing.

That rising confidence could be seen when good work and a chargedown by Rumney wing Phil Carlton kept Ynysybwl penned in their twenty two, and try saving tackles by Niblett prevented them scoring from counterattacks. Thomas put over another penalty in the fiftieth minute but the home side frequently found themselves on the retreat as Clark's line kicking regularly drove them back, and in the sixtieth minute the outside half sent out an excellent long ball to Jones on the burst and the dynamic centre was unstoppable on his sprint over the try line. Clark added the conversion to bring the score to 22 - 20 before Thomas kicked another penalty for Ynysybwl, but in the sixty eighth minute, with all cylinders firing, the Rumney outside half produced a devestating break followed by a neat chip ahead which O'Neill snapped up for his second try and the score that levelled the sides at 25 - 25. Clark put Rumney into the lead for the first time with a penalty but Thomas replied to tie the scores at 28 - 28 before Clark again put the visitors ahead with a further brace of penalties, and with scrum half Chris Miller, and forwards Michael Feneck and Craig Fitzpatrick now eagerly at work, Rumney were firmly in control. Ynysybwl had battled all the way, never giving in and entering injury time with their outstanding player Read still looking for openings with No8 Neil Griffiths in close support, but in the dying minutes Miller and Clark switched play wide to O'Neill who chipped ahead and recovered the ball to score his hat trick, Clark's conversion bringing proceedings to an end at 28 - 41.

Paul Niblett, Captain Rumney RFC : "A good result in the end but we started very poorly and were soon two tries down, but we battled back against the wind and we knew that in the second half we would create chances. We proved that we could win off first phase and Anthony Jones scored a great try that way, but for most of the game the backs' handling skills were poor. We dug in and pulled away in the end, Michael Kelly was outstanding and Ryan Sutton was the Man of the Match."

Ryan Sutton, flanker Rumney 1st XV : "It was a scrappy game with a couple of mistakes to start, but we pulled it together. We knew that we had to settle down and be patient, and then it would come. The wind and the slope didn't help but the forwards did well in the first half and once we started winning and manned up it was awesome. Emyr James and John Leadbeatter had excellent games."

Neil Martin, visiting Rumney RFC from South Africa : "Ynysybwl scored three tries from Rumney mistakes but outside half Danny Clark came good in the second half and set up two brilliant tries. The boys stuck in there and wanted to win more than the opposition, that was what did it. Colin O'Donoghue had a cracking game and Michael Kelly worked well, helping to set up the last try."