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

Referee : Gwyn Ackerman

Scorers for Rumney : P.Carlton try, L.Abdul try, D.Clark penalty and 2 conversions and drop goal

Scorers for Abergavenny : G.Hughes-Jones try, J.Didcote penalty

A sensational final ten minutes saw Rumney overcome Abergavenny to claim victory in a game which had for long periods seemed to be out of their grasp. The home side started well with scrum half Craig Smith supplying snappy ball, No8 Stuart Coles bursting from the back of scrums, and prop David Evans, hooker Steve O'Donoghue and flankers Ryan Sutton and Matthew Way all driving into opposition territory. Second row Emyr James nearly created an early try with a charge down and as the Rumney backs started to open up centre Gareth Bowen was proving difficult to stop in midfield, but unexpected errors from the home side and a tendency to give away penalties, allowed Abergavenny to settle and gradually work their way into Rumney territory where their heavier pack began to gain parity. The visitors continued to press in the centre of the field through tight forward movements often based around their best forward, No8 Matthew George and backed up by accurate kicking from outside half James Didcote, but Rumney second row Paul Bull was becoming increasingly influential in open play and when his side returned to the offensive, outside half Danny Clark put them ahead through a twenty eighth minute penalty. Abergavenny still sensed that they could dominate through tight play and in the thirty fifth minute they were rewarded when George controlled an attacking scrum, providing good ball for centre Graham Hughes-Jones to score the first try and give his team a 3 - 5 half time lead.

The second half saw breaks by Rumney backs Lee Abdul, Phil Carlton and Michael O'Neill and with Sutton finding more space, the first signs were showing of Rumney forward domination but indiscipline when in attacking positions led to a series of penalties and no scores were achieved. Captain Paul Niblett was now controlling midfield but despite excellent work by Bull, Coles and Sutton, even more penalties were conceded and after an hour's play Didecote stretched Abergavenny's lead to 3 - 8 with a long range penalty. The solid Rumney front row of props James Harris, Evans and O'Donoghue now began to set the pattern for the latter part of the game with the home forwards gradually pushing back the tiring visiting pack and forcing errors and penalties. In the seventieth minute Carlton ran a tapped penalty for Niblett to take play deep into the Abergavenny twenty two, where charging prop Evans battered forward, drawing in three defenders and setting up good ball for Coles, replacement prop John Leadbeatter and second row Michael Kelly to carry it on until replacement scrum half Paul Nash popped up a pass for Abdul on the burst and the flying winger crashed over to score a fine try. Clark's conversion took Rumney into a 10 - 8 lead and with more powerful thrusts by Bull, play was soon back in the visitors' half where increasingly desperate efforts led to a loose clearance kick being delivered into the arms of Michael Feneck on the charge. Rumney's replacement hooker burst twenty five metres and set up a break by Clark, and when the outside half was held, full back Carlton ripped the ball clear and set off on a blistering run down the left wing for an excellent corner try. As full time approached clean ball from another attacking scrum set up Niblett on another strong run and from the second phase Clark found himself in acres of room with time to launch a magnificent thirty five metre drop goal. Having been trailing 3 - 8 with only ten minutes to go, Rumney's astonishing final period demonstrated their determination and true potential, and as Mr Ackerman's whistle brought proceedings to an end, home supporters were delighted to see the scoreboard reading 20 - 8.

Steve Ford, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "We set our stall out very early, as soon as we kicked off we knew there was not going to be any nonsense, but our discipline let us down and we actually played into Abergavenny's hands. We gave away too many penalties for seventy minutes and you can lose forty metres every time you do that, but on a pleasing note our lineout and scrum worked well and we took four against the head. We always looked the better side in what was a frustrating game, but I knew that if we could get quality ball and push it wide we'd be ok. No flowing rugby was allowed to develop and we couldn't really get into the game. When we were allowed to play, our backs looked very dangerous but our heads went down when we couldn't go through the phases. Abergavenny stopped us performing but the pleasing part was that when tried to play we scored tries and came away with a win. When we scored in the seventy third minute, our attitude changed and in the last six minutes we took Abergavenny apart, we must learn to move the ball wide to our wings and full back, when we are not allowed to do that it becomes very frustrating. We have got to be pleased having won two out of two league games but we must play a lot better and keep our discipline. The Man of the Match was Paul Bull."

Danny Clark, outside half Rumney 1st XV : "The forwards worked really hard but when the decisions started going against us everyone got a bit frustrated. Towards the end of the game we had too much power upfront and behind the scrum and we got the win we deserved. Paul Bull carried well, took some big hits and had an excellent game."