Treherbert v Rumney 16.04.05

Rumney : 15.P.Carlton 14.M.O'Neill 13.L.Khan 12.P.Niblett (Capt) 11.J.Offside 10.D.Clark  9.P.Nash 1.J.Leadbeatter  2.M.Feneck 3.D.Evans   4.E.James  5.P.Bull  6.M.Kelly 7.K.Jama 8.S.Coles  Replacements : N.Trevett N.Ritchie R.Fenton C.Smith

Referee : Sean Brickell

Scorers for Rumney : P.Carlton try, M.O'Neill try, L.Khan try, P.Niblett try, D.Clark try and 4 conversions, P.Nash try, P.Bull 2 tries

Scorer for Treherbert : G.Roberts try and conversion and penalty

A brilliant display of fifteen man rugby brought Rumney their first ever win at Tynewydd Field, home of The Devils, where the motto on the stand reads "Welcome to Hell" and where countless visiting teams have come to grief. Treherbert started energetically with outside half Gareth Roberts slotting a fifth minute penalty but Rumney's control and pace soon took them into the opposition half and clean lineout possession by second row Emyr James set up an excellent tight forward drive, finished off by fellow second row Paul Bull who touched down with close assistance from No8 Stuart Coles and prop John Leadbeatter. Visiting outside half Danny Clark added the conversion to put his side 3 - 7 in front after ten minutes and despite more intense pressure from the home forwards, Rumney set up a defensive line which had no weaknesses, flanker Khalid Jama putting in crunching tackles when needed. The confidence of the visitors' pack could be seen in their readiness to drive long distances upfield, where Coles and prop David Evans were outstanding, and also to enter handling movements with the backs, though possession was occassionally lost in turnovers. The superior speed of James and Bull was to prove decisive in the result of the game but Treherbert's outstanding forwards No8 Dean Phillips and second row Teifion Rhys Lewis both came close to scoring tries. In the thirtieth minute a Treherbert attack broke down when Rumney centre Luke Khan blocked a chip through, gathered the ball and fed captain Paul Niblett who in turn set fullback Phil Carlton away on a blistering burst down the wing and under the posts. Clark's kick increased the lead to 3 - 14 and was followed by more forceful running from the Rumney backs until second row Michael Kelly rose in the lineout to give scrum half Paul Nash quick ball and a brilliant handling movement back and forth across the threequarters led to Nash regaining the ball in the left wing position and bursting clear for his team's third try. Bull, Evans, James, Kelly and flanker Ryan Fenton, who had come on for the injured Jama, were now finding big spaces, with Coles constantly driving them forward, and Leadbeatter and hooker Michael Feneck marauding and snapping up loose ball. In the backs, wingers Joey Offside and Michael O'Neill were coming more and more into the game, proving difficult to stop and both setting up good second phases. As a result of Clark fully controlling play and Niblett acting as midfield general, the three quarters cut loose at every opportunity, and in the thirty eighth minute the stand off and centre broke from their own half, linked with Carlton, Offside, Nash, Evans and Bull in a staggering forwards and backs handling movement which was concluded by another Clark break, Khan coasting in at the sticks and the subsequent conversion bringing the half to a close at 3 - 26.

The Devils started the second period well, flanker Kerry Taylor leading the charge and making inroads into opposition territory, but Rumney's defence still held and gradually play returned to the Treherbert twenty two where James was ready to frustrate a quick drop out and Coles was like lightning in getting the ball wide to flying prop Nathan Trevett who sped to within a metre of the line before popping it up for Clark to finish another fine try. It only took three minutes for the visitors to strike again when Niblett, the outstanding back on the field, gathered an attacking grubber kick and set off on a seventy metre sprint to the line, evading and outpacing tacklers for a fabulous solo try. Clark's conversion gave a scoreline of 3 - 36 but Treherbert were far from beaten and more powerful play by their forwards and an excellent break by fullback Jason Oliver set up Roberts for a quality try and conversion and a reduction of the gap to 10 - 36. Coles and Bull continued to make telling breaks out of defence and pressure was also relieved by huge touchfiders from Clark until the seventy fifth minute when more good lineout possession by James allowed replacement scrum half Craig Smith to neatly cross the advantage line, combine with Trevett and Coles to put Fenton through on the burst and as the flanker drew in three tacklers, space was created out wide where a brilliant long pass from Clark found O'Neill and the winger crossed for another top quality try. The visitors were still not finished and in the seventy eighth minute, Man of the Match Bull gathered well on his own twenty two and set Kelly off on a characteristically charging run, supported by hooker Neal Ritchie and Leadbeatter, before the backs cut loose again and Bull completed the move with the touchdown which took the score at the final whistle to a magnificent 10 - 48.

Steve Ford, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "At the warm up I said that the honeymoon period is basically over, we have had three or four games to settle and we can have no illusions, things are going to be tough. Our set piece had to be spot on and today in the first half it was, I was pleased that we held on to all fifty fifty ball and didn't shovel out bad ball. Our skill level was the highest seen this season, our confidence was up and we looked like a side capable of a top four finish. We dominated every area of play and scored four first half tries, though Treherbert took a couple of turnovers but we still managed to get the ball out wide to our fast boys on the wings. At half time I stressed the importance of not swithching off, but unfortunately, that was not to be and Treherbert came out and at us in the second half, for twenty minutes we didn't know what to do, we didn't have the ball. I always knew that when we had possession we would do something with it, but we only scored one try in that period. After that we did get a bit of ball and scored the tries, the team spirit is high but we won't get too carried away, we have got to have the right attitude to kill sides off and in the second half we didn't do that. So it is a pat on the back to the guys, they are training hard and are committed to the cause, it was hard work last year and it is hard work this year too,but it is enjoyable. We are honest guys, the boys are enjoying it, so let's keep our feet on the ground. Danny Clark ran the show today, Captain Paul Niblett was immense in the centre and Michael Kelly had an excellent game, but for the second week running, the Man of the Match was Paul Bull."

John Leadbeatter, prop Rumney 1st XV : "A great effort all round, very enjoyable and a vast improvement in communication and attitude from previous weeks. The backs were superb, the pack was strong, set pieces went well and Paul Bull had another awesome game. Paul Niblett captained the side superbly and had a great game."