Rumney : 15.S.McIntyre 14.L.Fox 13.T.Daly 12.P.Niblett (Capt) 11.J.Offside 10.A.Carlson 9.G.Manning 1.C.Fitzpatrick  2.M.Feneck  3.C.Maynard  4.M.Kelly 5.M.Peard  6.A.Wilson  7.R.Fenton  8.D.Rees  Replacements : M.Catris C.Milton J.Leadbeatter M.Way R.Sutton

Scorers for Rumney : T.Daly try, R.Sutton try, D.Rees try, M.Feneck try, A.Carlson 2 conversions

Scorer for Hartridge : L.Tresize penalty

Referee : Mike Cox, Abertillery

A particularly determined Hartridge side took the game to Rumney from the very start showing a willingness to run the ball and to contest everything at forward, gaining a number of early turnovers. The opening period found Rumney defending efficiently with half backs Geraint Manning and Andrew Carlson calming play down and kicking well, centres Paul Niblett and Tom Daley making first up tackles, and the front row of props Calvin Maynard and Craig Fitpatrick and hooker Michael Feneck solidly locking down the scrum. Gradually the visitors began to assert themselves, second rows Michael Peard and Michael Kelly thundering through the midfield and flanker Anthony Wilson taking clean lineout ball, but Rumney still conceded turnovers and Hartridge punished them with rapid counterattacks and their most dangerous player, flying left winger Leon Tresize, was brought down only feet from the try line. Carlson and full back Stuart McIntyre continued to carefully work the touchline but after a long period of Hartridge pressure, Rumney gave away more penalties and in the thirtieth minute Tresize opened the scoring with an accurate place kick. This was a wakeup call for Rumney who struck back with a superb fifty metre break by Daly and a handling movement that was only stopped when Niblett was forced into touch close to the Hartridge line, but the continuing tendency to concede penalties allowed home outside half Gareth Hopkins to lift the danger through good line kicking. Peard and Kelly mainted their domination of the midfield, cleaning up loose balls and advancing, and the role of flanker Ryan Fenton was becoming increasingly important as he carved out space and required the attention of a number of defenders every time he had the ball. In the thirty sixth minute Carlson sent a long touchfinder deep into Hartridge territory and Kelly claimed good lineout possession, from which Manning set loose the threequarters, Niblett first drawing in defenders and then Feneck on the burst pulling in more. This created plenty of space and the ball was switched wide to winger Joey offside and then back across field before Niblett fired out an excellent long pass to Daly allowing the centre to split the opposition and blast through unopposed for the first try. Carlson's conversion gave the visitors a 3 - 7 lead and although Hartridge were putting together strong running attacks from deep, they were conceding more penalties and confronting an even tighter defensive line, so the scoreline at the interval was unchanged.

The second half began with Feneck, Peard and Kelly leading even more dynamic charges in the centre of the park and Manning upping the pace, switching the ball either way across the backs and penning Hartridge in their own twenty two under persistent pressure. Rumney wingers Joey Offside and Lewis Fox were now causing big problems going down the tramlines, Niblett controlling the threequarters and Maynard and No8 Dyfrig Rees forcing the opposition onto the backfoot but the Hartridge scatter defence was proving effective and stopped a number of movements which looked as if they would end in tries. For the home side scrum half Richard Hill was fast away from the base of the scrum and also linked well with powerful No8 David Wrench, but the introduction by Rumney of flanker Ryan Sutton gave complete domination of the lineout and following an elusive jinking run by Manning, it was the wing forward who finished off a spectacular handling movement with a spinning dive over the try line. Five minutes later, in the sixtieth minute, Rees set off on another of his special solo efforts, casting off defenders and crossing for an outstanding individual try, Carlson's conversion putting Rumney further ahead at 3 - 19. Fenton and Sutton were now marauding through midfield and with Hartridge having to defend more and more, the home side concentrated their efforts on stopping marked man Rees from doing any further damage, but the arrival of prop John Leadbeatter and hooker Mike Catris added fresh impetus to the forward drives and flanker Matthew Way burst clear time and again. Chris Milton came on for injured Rumney captain Niblett and fitted in well in the centre, and although Hartridge were having to put most of their efforts into defence, they were still ready to spin the ball and run back into attacking positions. In the eightieth minute another sweeping handling movement was finished off with a Michael Feneck corner try and a fine cup tie came to an end with the scoreline reading Hartridge 3 Rumney 24.

Steve Ford, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "Our gameplan evaporated in the first half, we had planned to run every ball and push it wide, we know that if we build phases and spread it out wide we can run most sides off the park, but we didn't help ourselves and it became a dogfight. We struggled in the first few scrums and could not get any momentum going. Hartridge defended very well, they have a good pack of forwards and a strong number 12 who stopped us playing. At half time I knew that if our phase plan worked we would get on top, but we still had to rely on fitness and experience in the last twenty minutes. We started to put some passes together and our scrum and lineout was solid, but we didn't underestimate Hartridge, we knew they were a good side and a lot of credit has to go to them, they defended well, their scrambled defence was good and hard to break down. John Leadbeatter returned today and we started to get over the gainline, while in the backs we looked quite good. It was a day for getting results and it was a good result for us, I'll always take a win in a cup round. It was nice to see Joey Offside in the side again and the Man of the Match was Ryan Fenton, on this kind of form he is virtually unstoppable."

Mike Catris, hooker Rumney 1st XV : "The first half was a bit scrappy and we had to battle upfront but we did well with what little ball we had. In the second half our forwards came out of the blocks with Ryan Sutton and Michael Kelly making big hits, the set piece was good throughout the game and fifteen minutes into the second half we got on top. Tom Daly made some lovely breaks and Anthony Wilson put in fearless work."