Rumney : 15.P.Carlton 14.M.O'Neill 13.G.Bowen 12.P.Niblett (Capt) 11.A.Carlson 10.D.Clark  9.C.Miller 1.J.Leadbeatter  2.C.O'Donoghue  3.C.Fitzpatrick  4.M.Peard  5.E.James  6.R.Sutton 7.M.Way  8.M.Kelly  Replacements : N.Ritchie C.Maynard  A.Wilson J.O'Sullivan

Referee : Simon Wycherley, Penmaen

Scorers for Rumney : J.Leadbeatter try, P.Niblett try, A.Carlson conversion

Scorers for Mountain Ash : L.Butts try, M.Parfitt penalty and conversion

Rumney battled their way through this cliffhanger of a game at sun soaked Riverside Park to claim the points which take them back into League Division 1 next season. Home centres Paul Niblett and Gareth Bowen started strongly, finding gaps to exploit, full back Phil Carlton confidently fielding high balls and counterattacking from depth and forwards Mike Peard and Colin O'Donoghue immediately going on the offensive covering large areas of ground, but Mountain Ash were sharp at the breakdown and in the eighth minute outside half Matthew Parfitt put the visitors ahead with a penalty. The Old Firm showed good control and made much use of their impressive No8 Ryan Savage in a number of moves, and were aided by some wild passing from Rumney, the home side having to rely at times on the kicking ability of outside half Danny Clark to relieve the pressure. Rumney flanker Ryan Sutton and second row Emyr James proved outstanding in the lineouts from the earliest set pieces and gave opportunities for No8 Michael Kelly and flanker Matthew Way to make important breaks and set up fine linking movements between forwards and backs. Uncharacteristically, the Rumney threequarters fumbled passes but Niblett was a constant threat in the centre and wingers Andrew Carlson and Michael O'Neill were elusive out wide when the backs opened up. Mountain Ash showed their dangerous attacking ability and were only kept out by excellent tackling, but in the thirty second minute Savage secured clean possession at a close range lineout and fed Lee Butts on the charge, the prop crashing over virtually unopposed and, with Parfitt's conversion, putting the Old Firm further ahead at 0 - 10. Rumney were living dangerously and would have gone further behind were it not for superb try-saving tackles by Bowen and Carlton, and a stunning midfield counterattack by Carlson, now playing at outside half, Clark having had to leave the field with a knee injury. Peard continued to dominate the forward exchanges supported by hard working props John Leadbeatter and Craig Fitzpatrick and although the half time scoreboard was heavily in the visitors' favour it was evident that Rumney's best was yet to come.

It was all out pressure from the restart with Bowen being held just short of the line and Mountain Ash conceding penalties in an attempt to halt the attacks but in the forty fifth minute Sutton soared in his accustomed fashion and set up a lineout drive for Kelly to draw in three defenders and almost reach the line himself. Scrum half Chris Miller, a constant problem for the Mountain Ash defence, pounced on the good second phase ball and deceived everyone with a massive dummy and snap reverse pass to Leadbeatter who was unstoppable on his burst over the try line. Anthony Wilson joined Emyr James in the Rumney boiler house and the two athletic second rows started ranging over midfield where Way was also finding room and pulling off important tackles. Mountain Ash exerted more pressure but found Kelly in devestating form in defence and in his play from the back of the scrum, and the visitors were forced into more errors. In the sixtieth minute, following another great take and drive by Sutton, Miller and Carlson found Niblett with a long pass and the Rumney Captain scythed through for an outstanding try, Carlson's difficult conversion putting the home side into the lead for the first time in the match. Utility back James O'Sullivan and prop Calvin Maynard came on for Rumney and both players turned in dynamic performances in attack and defence and with time running out, the Old Firm launched more attacks but were repulsed by further solid tackles from Niblett, Kelly, Maynard and Wilson. Miller, Kelly and O'Neill countered strongly and Way maintained his massive workload to prevent any reversals before Mr Wycherley's whistle finally announced victory and Rumney's well deserved promotion to Division 1.

Steve Ford, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "Before the game we spoke about how we wanted to play fifteen man rugby and we are a side which is capable of doing that. We knew Mountain Ash would be good in the set pieces and we wanted to move their big forwards around but we fell down because passes were not going to hand, there were four or five occassions when passes went astray, we missed three-on-one and two-on-one situations and started to panic. We decided to change the game plan and keep it tighter so there was a bit of a battle in the contact area. Rumney gave away too many penalties and need to be more decisive in the ruck area, if you give away about twenty penalties you can not get territory or possession. Mountain Ash came at us with a big forward base and also tried to put it wide. At half time I asked the boys to put their hands up and recognise how much hard work has been done this season, but in the back of our minds we are confident and know that we have got skilful individuals who can turn the game. It needed a bit of brilliance from our Captain Paul Niblett, he led the side well and was absolutely superb, he started the ball rolling. A couple of driving lineouts worked well for us and at the end of the day we ground out a 12 - 10 win, I thought we were slightly the better team. We got promotion to the First Division today, I am absolutely over the moon for the boys and the club, we are looking forward to the new challenge next year. We have achieved something this weekend but still have to be professional in the last four games, I am keen on ending the season on a high and not take our foot off the gas. We will celebrate tonight but then it is back to work. Michael Kelly at No8 was outstanding today, pushing up from the base of the scrum and running everywhere we needed him to, stopping any comeback in the last five minutes. Calvin Maynard, in his first senior game, took a big step up playing in the 1st XV front row and did very well there. The Man of the Match was Paul Niblett."

Calvin Maynard, prop Rumney 1st XV : "It was a tough game but the players kept to it and never gave up, as a team we have had a good season and they have proved their quality by coming from behind today and bringing us a hard earned victory, with Paul Niblett leading by example. It was a big step up into the 1st XV but the team made me feel comfortable, Mountain Ash is a tough game to come into but I coped due to the encouragement of the team."