FRIENDS came together for a rugby match to remember a friend and team mate who was taken far too soon five years ago.

Neil ‘Nelly’ Allmark, who played for both Caldicot and Chepstow, died from a heart condition in January 2015 aged 29.

He worked as a manager at Chepstow Leisure Centre and at the leisure facility at the St Pierre Hotel.

On Saturday (February 1) friends who played with him at both youth and senior levels came together for a charity match at Chepstow RFC’s Western Avenue ground.

Team mates from the Borderers – a combined Chepstow and Caldicot youth side – played in the blue and black of Caldicot while players from Neil’s senior sides donned the white and black of Chepstow.

Chris McVeigh, who helped organise the match said: “We spent some time with his family and we thought let’s bring the two clubs together – he was a great club man, a great team mate and a great friend and really loved in the community.

“It’s a fun game among friends.

“Its all about bringing together players who played with Neil at youth at the Borderers through to senior rugby at both clubs.”

Money raised by the event will go to mental health charity Mind Cymru.

Chris said: “It was decided by Neil’s partner, Melissa and his parents Nicole and Mike.

“Although it is not related to how Neil left us, they thought it was something that touches so many people.”

The players each paid a fiver to play and there was an entry fee to the game, a raffle, auction and Wales’s Six Nations match against Italy was shown on the club’s screen.