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

Referee : Mike Cox, Abertillery

Scorers for Rumney : G.Bowen try, A.Jones try, P.Carlton try, R.Sutton try, penalty try, D.Clark 4 conversions

Scorers for Rhydyfelin : G.Close 2 tries, S.Perry conversion and 3 penalties

A tremendous match between two of the league's top teams provided end to end action at sun drenched Riverside Park. It was fast and furious from the start with Rumney full back Gareth Bowen's first touch of the ball starting a handling movement between backs and forwards which spread back and forth across the pitch three times before home winger Phil Carlton crossed for the opening try after only two minutes. Following this initial onslaught Rhydefelin settled quickly and although play was mostly in their half of the field and Rumney again came close to scoring when centre Anthony Jones was stopped inches short of the line, in the fifteenth minute visiting scrum half and Captain Nicky Griffiths started an excellent movement leading to a converted corner try for winger Gavin Close. Rhydyfelin continued to press but with the home defence holding firm, their incursions were limited to a penalty by centre Scott Perry in the twentieth minute. 5 - 10 down, Rumney second row Emyr James secured a close range lineout and in the subsequent drive flanker Ryan Sutton grounded the ball for his side's second try, outside half Danny Clark adding the points to put Rumney into a 12 - 10 lead. Clark was soon called upon to convert their third try when Sutton obtained set piece lineout ball to spark a threequarter movement, Captain Paul Niblett's dummy taking him through the opposition defence and clearing the way for co-centre Anthony Jones to cross at the sticks. Now leading 19 - 10 Rumney launched waves of attacks but were rocked when Rhydyfelin right winger Mark Tyler snapped up a loose ball and sprinted sixty metres before cutting inside and putting Close away for his second try. The packs were well matched at this stage, Rumney's front row of John Leadbeatter, Colin O'Donoghue and Darren Fenton locking down each scrum and running purposefully in open play, where Sutton, flanker Matthew Way and No8 Stuart Coles were also enjoying the firm conditions to gain many yards. In defence the home forwards were also outstanding, second rows Michael Kelly and James blocking any drives and turning over ball. In what was a good period for Rhydyfelin, the home defence kept out all attacks and withstood a series of close range scrums, but in the thirty eighth minute Perry landed another penalty and reduced Rumney's half time lead to only one point at 19 - 18.

The second period opened with scrappy play from both sides but with the majority of threatening attacks coming from Rumney, Clark and Bowen counterattacking out of defence, O'Donoghue rampaging in midfield and Sutton winning important opposition balls in the lineout. Kelly had been brilliant under the high ball throughout the first half and in the sixtieth minute he again claimed a twenty two drop out and instantly fed James whose burst through his tacklers set up Sutton and the flanker was only just held up on the line. There were signs that the home forwards were now taking command and at the subsequent scrum, as Coles' superb control took him to the point where he was about to pounce, Mr Cox decided that Rhydyfelin were collapsing the scrum and he awarded a penalty try. Powerful prop Charlie Gale and dynamic flanker Ryan Fenton took their places in the Rumney lineup and increased the home side's pressure on the visitors but in the sixty fifth minute Perry added another penalty to bring Rhydyfelin again to within one score at 26 - 21. Skilful and adventurous play by Clark, Niblett and Carlton took play back deep into opposition territory where the Rumney forwards disrupted a scrum and took turnover ball which was fed by Miller, Clark and Niblett to Bowen on the burst, and with the suggestion of a dummy the strong running fullback crossed for the final try. Clark's difficult conversion put Rumney out of reach at 33 - 21 and in the final five minutes hard defensive work and telling tackles by Ryan Fenton, hooker Michael Feneck, Way and Gale made sure that there was no Rhydyfelin resurgence.

Mike Peard, Forwards Coach Rumney 1st XV : "Today's game was a very important one with both teams on the same points and in joint second position. Once again we had a good week's preparation, it is very important to get a home win. Before the game we talked about being disciplined and about attacking their set piece. It started at a furious pace and we quickly put points on the board but then we stepped off the pace again and let Rhydyfelin back into the game. It seems to be a common theme, whenever we upped the tempo they struggled and couldn't cope with it. At half time the players knew what the problems were, we needed to up our commitment around the tackle area and in defence, which is what we did in the second half and in the end it was a convincing win. Even though we are winning well we are creating opportunities which we don't finish, when we reach the point where we finish off all the opportunities we create, we'll be scoring fifty points a game. Rhydyfelin were very strong all round, their forwards worked particularly hard in the ruck area, but we coped with it and I was very pleased. Centres Paul Niblett and Anthony Jones worked hard, Gareth Bowen was very good and Danny Clark passed well and contolled the game, and the forwards worked hard throughout. The Man of the Match was Stuart Coles, Stuart is having a superb season and he lifts other players, he has the ability to identify problems on the pitch and take the right action."

Chris Miller, scrum half Rumney 1st XV : "We started off great, spreading it around and the backs showed good hands and took clever angles, we seemed to think that we could score from anywhere. Stuart Coles and Colin O'Donoghue fronted up well, the backs scored great tries from first phase and in the end we deserved to win. The pack went very well as a unit and held Rhydyfelin out with awesome defence."