Llanishen RFC, Usk Road, Llanishen, Cardiff
Wednesday 25th April 2007, k.o. 6.15 pm

Rumney : 15.A.Carlson 14.G.Niblett 13.A.Jones 12.P.Niblett (Capt) 11.J.Offside 10.D.Clark  9.L.Miller 1.J.Leadbeatter  2.M.Feneck  3.C.Gale  4.A.Wilson   5.M.Kelly  6.C.O'Donoghue 7.R.Sutton  8.S.Coles  Replacements : C.Fitzpatrick N.Ritchie D.Morris P.Bull C.Smith A.Solomon M.Peard

Scorers for Rumney : S.Coles try, J.Offside try, A.Carlson try, D.Clark 2 conversions

Scorers for Old Illtydians : S.Rees try, N.Dallimor try, C.Lewis try, M.Back 2 conversions and 6 penalties

A scrappy start to the East District Cup semi final found both sides giving away penalties, committing errors and sending out bad passes. In the eighth minute Rumney were penalised for a high tackle and Old Illtydians' outside half Matthew Back opened the scoring with a successful kick, then four minutes later, following a handling error from a Rumney scrum, the Illtydians took advantage of the turnover to spread the ball for full back Stuart Rees to score under the posts. Back converted the try for a 0 - 10 lead and three minutes later added another penalty after Rumney were guilty of going in from the side. Rumney hooker Michael Feneck and flanker Colin O'Donoghue led charges out of defence but all too frequently the breakdown led to penalties and in the twenty first minute Back kicked three more points stretching the lead to 0 - 16. At this point Rumney started to show more form and following a clean take in the line by flanker Ryan Sutton a well constructed, lengthy drive by the pack was completed when outstanding forward No8 Stuart Coles crashed over for a try, outside half Danny Clark adding the conversion to bring down the gap to 7 - 16. Rumney continued to give away penalties and Back kicked a further two before the interval, the sides arriving at half time fifteen points apart at 7 - 22.

The second half opened with Sutton coming close to a try and despite a more forceful approach Rumney missed scoring chances and conceded ground as a result of handling and kicking mistakes. The Illtydians then spent a lengthy period in the Rumney half before centre Neil Dallimor took advantage of poor tackles to split the defence and go over near the sticks. Rumney replied with a period where they camped near the opposition line and in the fifty eighth minute Clark broke on the blind side to put winger Joey Offside in at the corner, the outside half's excellent conversion improving the scoreline at 14 - 29. Coles continued his mighty bursts in midfield, well supported by the pack, but territorial advantage was often lost through indiscipline and penalty offences, and a loose clearance kick allowed the Illtydians to gather and put in a chip to the corner where winger Cai Lewis collected and touched down for his side's third try. In the seventy seventh Rumney captain Paul Niblett caught the Illtydians napping with a tapped penalty and full back Andrew Carlson jinked through for a good solo, consolation try but in the final minute Back slotted another penalty to put Old Illtydians into the East District Cup Final as a result of their 21 - 37 victory.

Steve Ford, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "We went into this game feeling confident and capable of doing the job. Our set piece was very good but our discipline again let us down, we got four yellow cards and you can not expect to win like that. Fair does to the Illtydians they did their homework and stopped us playing, everything we created was from broken play and not first phase ball. We wanted to move it wide, you have to go past fourth phase to create movements. This was a big lesson in not being too complacent, since we were promoted we have not won a game and I do not want to lose our last few matches. It is vital to end the season on a high point by winning our last two games. Tonight's Man of the Match was Stuart Coles."