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

Scorers for Rumney : P.Bull try, R.Sutton try, J.Deacon conversion and 3 penalties

Scorers for Newport Saracens : S.Morasco try, R.Palmer 3 penalties

An important game for both clubs and with each side ready to run the ball, Newport Saracens pushed hard in the early minutes and when winger Chris Arnold was held short of the line, scrum half Tyron Mahoney fired the ball across the backs where second row Scott Morasco collected and crossed unopposed after five minutes. Rumney started to settle, flanker Anthony Wilson and second row Emyr James working well to gain lineout ball and centre Anthony Jones making his formidable presence felt in midfield. When Jones was high tackled, the resulting penalty allowed the visitors to lodge in the opposition half where outside half Joe Deacon contolled play and when the Saracens conceded another penalty, he kicked the points to bring the score to 5 - 3. Rumney forwards Craig Fitzpatrick, Michael Feneck, Adam Brake, Michael Kelly and James returned to the offensive, and with prop Charlie Gale and flankers Matthew Way and Wilson locking play in the Newport half, the Saracens again conceded penalties and in the twenty fourth minute Deacon fired over another kick to put his side into the lead at 5 - 6. Visiting scrum half Chris Milton put in another snappy performance taunting the home side and linking rapidly with his backs, but the Saracens showed their counterattacking skills when full back Martin Cawley and centre Mark Addis set off upfield and nearly scored, good defensive work by Milton and full back Tom Daly finally relieving the threat. Rumney began to give away penalties and in the thirtieth minute Saracens flanker Ross Palmer succeeded with a good long range kick, but the visiitors continued to spread the ball, centre Paul Niblett marshalling midfield and wingers Andrew Carlson and Paul Collett gaining ground with strong runs. For the Saracens, flying winger Wesley Cunliffe showed his speed on the counter, the solid Rumney defence bringing him down just short of the line on two occassions, and with both sides committing occassional unforced handling errors, a lengthy period of scrappy play before half time was only punctuated by another penalty from Palmer, the home side leading at the interval by 11 - 6.

After the break Rumney again conceded penalties, allowing Mahoney and No8 Ross Madden to make good inroads into the visitors' territory, but the Rumney pack was equal in all departments and Deacon cleared with lengthy touchfinders, and in the fifty second minute the outside half kicked an excellent forty metre penalty after hooker Feneck was high tackled. Ross made an impressive midfield break for the home side but now it was becoming apparent that the Saracens had less steam than earlier and he lacked support, the Rumney forwards, on the other hand, were finding more space, Way cutting through midfield, Brake requiring three tacklers to bring him down and Jones continuing to cause problems in the centre. Despite the fact that they were now clearly beginning to dominate the proceedings, Rumney continued to infringe and show indiscipline, this gave Palmer the chance to stretch the lead with another well taken, long range penalty in the sixty fourth minute. Prop John Leadbeatter, second row Paul Bull and flanker Ryan Sutton entered the fray for Rumney, who maintained their control with more fine linekicking by Deacon and effective tidying up by Fitzpatrick and Feneck. The turning point of the game came in the seventieth minute when a yellow card reduced the Saracens to fourteen men and a powerful Rumney drive was concluded with Bull touching down and Deacon landing an excellent touchline conversion for a 14 - 16 lead. Scrum half Chris Miller took the field and cleverly worked the touchline, and a deft grubber from Fitzpatrick kept Rumney where they wanted to be territorially, while protecting their lead, but that advantage was threatened when more penalty offences were committed. Hooker Mike Catris joined his colleagues in the Rumney pack and with Sutton, Brake and Fitzpatrick created well managed drives before Kelly, Bull and Way supported Sutton as he forced his way over for a good try, the final score reading Newport Saracens 14 Rumney 21.

Steve Ford, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "It didn't really get going did it ? We knew today's game was going to be tough up front where Newport Saracens are at their strongest, but our aim was to push the ball wide, it was a lovely day and we wanted to play at a quick tempo. The Saracens also knew our strengths, and slowed the ball down and stopped us playing, especially in the first half. At half time we spoke about getting hold of a few phases so that their big forwards in midfield would give us mismatches, and we did look good in patches when we were allowed to play our game. Once again our set piece was very good, we have not had a problem all season against bigger packs, the forwards battled hard and we had a lot of possession. We lost a bit of ball in their twenty two and gave away territory too easily, but when we go through the phases we are a very good side. We lacked continuity but we came to win, and full credit to the boys they stuck at it and the forwards worked tirelessly. The Man of the Match was Craig Fitzpatrick, it was Craig's last game of rugby today and he steered the forwards very well, he doesn't stop talking and has bags of experience. All the boys and I would like to say to Craig 'Thank you very much for today and for the last two seasons'."

Craig Fitzpatrick, prop Rumney 1st XV : "The Saracens were a side fighting for their lives and that showed in their stern defence in the first half, but it also shows our character to come from behind and win quite comfortably from their mistakes. It is important to have people like Ryan Sutton to come on and Chris Miller to settle things down. Charlie Gale was outstanding and so was michael Feneck, it was tough up front, and young scrum half Chris Milton had a great game. This was my last game and the boys put on a special performance, the guys said nice things about going out with a win and it is good to be going out at the club I started with ! "