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

Referee : Michael Jones

Scorers for Rumney : D.Clark try and 3 conversions and 3 penalties, S.Coles try, penalty try

Scorers for Llantwit Fardre : A.Webbe try, Adrian.Evans try, Andrew Evans try, M.Thomas drop goal and 3 conversions and 4 penalties

The parade of Halloween demons which greeted the Rumney team coach in the main street of Church Village may well have been an omen, since the division leaders tasted defeat for the first time in the league this season when they were narrowly beaten by Llantwit Fardre at Central Park. The conditions were exactly what the visitors did not want, constant rain and a slippery surface, but they chose to play into the wind for the first half. Llantwit outside half Michael Thomas put over a good drop goal after ten minutes and three minutes later Rumney stand-off Danny Clark replied with a penalty, but despite the elements, visiting second row Emyr James was sound under the high ball, flankers Michael Kelly and Matthew Way were powerful from the start and centre Anthony Jones burst through the home defence from the first opportunity. Rumney shaded the initial scrums, pushing the opposition back, but the Llantwit half back combination of scrum half Gareth Morris and Thomas worked effectively and and on those occassions when the home side threatened the Rumney line, the visitors conceded penalties and the outside half added a further six points with well struck kicks. In the twenty eighth minute Llantwit enjoyed a period of sustained pressure and went further ahead when winger Andrew Webbe was put through untouched, Thomas's conversion taking the score to 16 - 3. The outside half was controlling the game well, kicking accurately to keep play in the Rumney half of the field, and in the thirty third minute his neat chip through allowed centre Adrian Evans to claim his side's second try, followed on the stroke of half time by another clever Thomas kick and the successful touchdown from hooker Andrew Evans. Thomas's difficult conversions of both tries gave Llantwit Fardre a 30 - 6 interval leave.

Rumney started the second half in much more powerful fashion, scrum half Craig Smith and No8 Stuart Coles working well from the base of the scrum, flanker Ryan Sutton dominating the lineouts and Clark slotting an early penalty. Having gained the upper hand in the scrums the visitors camped on the home try line and when Llantwit collapsed a scrum, Mr Jones immediately awarded a penalty try which Clark converted to close the gap to 30 - 16. Four minutes later the outside half sliced through for an excellent try of his own after replacement scrum half Chris Miller had caused confusion with a neat blindside chip in support of a forceful forward drive. Thomas stemmed the tide briefly with another penalty but in the seventieth minute Coles capped an outstanding performance by taking two defenders over the line with him as he completed a well controlled pushover try. Clark added the extra points to bring the score to a cliff hanging 33 - 30 and Rumney immediately returned to the offensive with Kelly and second row Paul Bull rampaging back upfield, but in the seventy fifth minute Thomas slotted his final penalty and time ran out for the visitors as Mr Jones heralded the end of the game with the scoreboard reading Llantwit Fardre 36 Rumney 30.

Steve Ford, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "We knew it was going to be tough up front so we came prepared for ten man rugby and decided to play against the wind in the first half. Though the wind was a problem it was the right idea, we had control in the scrums and a fair share of the set pieces, but where we broke down was our attitude. Playing against the wind we spilled balls and since we didn't have a great deal of territory or possession it was very difficult to play rugby, if you have got either one you can do something, but what was most disappointing about our first half performance was that we did not want to know, we were too lazy moving from phase to phase and we weren't quick enough with the little ball we had. I told the boys in no uncertain terms at half time how tough it is going to get, we are there to be shot at each week. We were behind in the first half through one player, Michael Thomas, hats off to him, his organisation was superb and he ran the show. We turned around in a different frame of mind, we pushed back virtually every scrum and scored some lovely tries, clawing it back from 30 - 6 to within one score but it was too much of a gap and we failed at the last hurdle. All in all I'm not disappointed by the result as much as by our first half performance, we must take things on board so that it does not happen again. I am fairly happy with where we are, it's like my school report, ok but could do better. Gareth Bowen was outstanding today and Anthony Jones had a fantastic game and was voted Man of the Match. Our Captain Paul Niblett is out injured and Jonah slotted in straight away, his defence was immense and although the competition is stiff, it was no surprise that he was the Man of the Match."

Anthony Jones, centre Rumney 1st XV : "We left ourselves with too much work to do, Llantwit Fardre played to their strengths with Michael Thomas kicking to the corners and his penalties keeping them in front. We did well to get back in the second half with all the forwards playing well and Michael Kelly putting in some big hits. The pack gave us a big platform but when we spread it wide we played the wrong kind of game."

Anthony Jones