Rumney : 15.A.Carlson 14.P.Collett 13.A.Jones 12.P.Niblett (Capt) 11.L.Plummer 10.J.Deacon  9.C.Miller 1.J.Leadbeatter 2.N.Ritchie 3.C.Gale  4.T.Gee  5.E.James  6.R.Sutton  7.A.Wilson  8.A.Brake    Replacements : C.Fitzpatrick  C.Milton  M.Way  M.Catris  G.Niblett

Referee : Nigel Whitehouse

Scorers for Rumney : A.Brake 2 tries, A.Carlson try, P.Niblett try, J.Deacon 4 conversions

Scorers for Blackwood : D.James try, R.Davies try, D.Tucker try, M.Gwilt try, P.Emmanuelli 4 conversions

Two attacking sides launched themselves at each other from the outstart, Blackwood scrum half and Captain Gavin Rees driving his side forward, Rumney's back row of Ryan Sutton, Adam Brake and Anthony Wilson immediately operating as a powerful unit, centres Paul Niblett and Anthony Jones blocking the midfield and ouside half Joe Deacon kicking accurately for position. The home side looked particularly dangerous on the counter but visiting hooker Neal Ritchie and second rows Terry Gee and Emyr James put in the hard work to keep moving forward. In the seventh minute a teasing kick by Rees deceived the Rumney defence and from a loose maul prop Dan Tucker forced his way over for the opening try. Home outside half Paul Emmanuelli added the conversion but Rumney replied with more hard work by Ritchie and sound forward pressure by props Charlie Gale and John Leadbeatter, while wing Lincoln Plummer brought off a fifty metre interception and linked well with fullback Andrew Carlson to take play into the Blackwood twenty two. The home side replied by breaking out of defence and creating a period of intricate passing which was finished off when second row Marc Gwilt took a neat inside pass and crossed under the sticks. Emmanualli added the extra points and although Blackwood had to once more defend their lines from concerted Rumney attacks, particularly those stemming from Sutton's superiority in the lineout and Deacon and scrum half Chris Miller's increasing exploitation of their backs, the home side went in at half time leading 14 - 0.

Five minutes after the restart and following another good movement between the Blackwood forwards and backs which took them into the Rumney twenty two, Brake dashed away from the back of a scrum, releasing Plummer to link with Miller and Wilson and take play seventy metres upfield where Richie's excellent ripping work put Deacon away to connect with Niblett and Carlson, who cut through defenders to score a manificent try under the posts. Deacon's conversion brought the score to 14 - 7 and five minutes later a big tackle by Jones created turnover ball for the threequarters who worked the ball wide to wing Paul Collett, set up second phase from which Brake set off on a devestating run, scattering six tacklers before touching down to score. Deacon drew the scores level and with James and Sutton breaking loose in midfield it seemed that Rumney were beginning to dominate, but in the sixty second minute Blackwood retook the lead when they manufactured another very good handling movement, finished off by centre Rhys Davies claiming a try and Emmanuelli converting it. Powerful work by Gee, Leadbeatter, Miller and hooker Mike Catris put Rumney back on the offensive but an opportunist interception try by Blackwood centre David James and the conversion by Emmanuelli extended the home side's lead to 28 - 14. With only ten minutes remaining, James took clean lineout ball and prop Craig Fitzpatrick drove forward, linking with Brake whose touchdown was judged to be a double movement and was disallowed. Not to be outdone, Brake picked up from the back of a scrum which Rumney had taken against the head, and blitzed his way up the blindside for an outstanding solo try. Play swung from end to end, Way storming through midfield and Blackwood counterattacking, but in the seventy fifth minute Rumney broke from their own twenty two and centre Gareth Niblett made huge gains, linking with Deacon and Fitzpatrick on the burst, who combined well with Sutton to supply Captain Niblett with the try scoring pass. Deacon's difficult conversion soared over to tie the scores and although both teams tried to snatch victory in the closing minutes, the match ended as a high scoring draw, referee Nigel Whitehouse describing the game as an excellent advertisement for First Division rugby.

Steve Ford, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "We always knew it would be tough at Blackwood on a Wednesday night and our aim was to start strongly from the kick off, an area which has sometimes been our downfall in the past, but we started very slowly again today. We had all the terrotory and possession and created five or six good chances but we gave knock ons and forward passes and Blackwood scored from our mistakes and it kept them in the game in the first half. I knew at half time that if we could cut out the knock ons and win quick ball, we'd be ok, we are a footballing side and can cause problems for any team. Sometimes you have to roll your sleeves up and dig deep, playing on Saturdays and Wednesdays can take its toll, but our performance in the second half tonight was our best of the season so far. We took the game to Blackwood and with another five minutes we might have snook in and won at the end, but to come here on a Wednesday night and leave with three points, is more than enough to make me happy. The Man of the Match was Adam Brake, his ball carrying count is seventeen or eighteen in a game, he tackles well and breaks the gain line every time. He has been a breath of fresh air overt he last few weeks, Blackwood couldn't handle him tonight and he thoroughly deserves the Man of the Match award."

Terry Gee, second row Rumney 1st XV : "The boys dug in hard tonight against a very strong Blackwood side. It was a very gutsy performance from all the players with an impressive display from Adam Brake."

Charlie Gale, prop Rumney 1st XV : "I enjoyed it but we were caught sleeping in the first half, it took us twenty minutes to get into the game and we gave Blackwood three tries. We had a positive attitude and it was a fair result in the end. Adam Brake was awesome, he was absolutely outstanding."