1998–99 Ystalyfera RFC season

After an early exit from the West Wales Cup at Llangennech, and a 1st Round exit from the Welsh Cup at Blaengarw, a third defeat away in the league at Nelson spurred the side and Ystalyfera began to dominate their opponents. A 19 match consecutive run of league victories followed which completely outpaced our rivals. The side was well balanced and quick handling of the ball overpowered other teams. Captain for the previous three years Kevin Williams had gone to Cwmllynfell and Peter Abraham was elected in his place. Former players like John Williams and Mark and Kevin McComas had returned. The younger crop of players had matured and top points scorer with 282 - a new club record was Michael Morgan. Damien James had 117 and a try count of 23 – one behind his father Noir James’ record. Wayne Jones won all the player of the year awards. This outstanding season, our Third as champions, was climaxed by our only win of the Swansea Valley Cup, the elusive trophy that had constantly slipped from our grasp. This was achieved at Morriston against Abercrave, who have over time proved to be a bogey side for Ystalyfera, but not this season – ‘Fera won 22-11. Other records this season was an unbeaten run of 18 games between October 98 to May 99, and the longest unbeaten run at home of 22 games between December 97 to October 99.

National League Division 5 Central

Pos.	Team.	PL.	W.	D.	L.	F.	A.	Try.	Bon.	Pts.	%.
1 P	Ystalyfera	24	22	0	2	628	270	90	13	79	91.67%
2 P	Nelson	24	16	2	6	502	294	72	12	62	70.83%
3	Rhydyfelin	24	16	1	7	958	351	98	12	61	68.75%
4	Heol y Cyw	24	13	1	10	454	816	68	6	46	56.25%
5	Bridgend Athletic	24	13	0	11	492	438	57	5	44	54.17%
6	Nantyffyllon	24	12	1	11	480	459	56	7	44	52.08%
7	Cefn Coed	24	10	4	10	398	384	52	5	39	50.00%
8	Tylorstown	24	11	0	13	354	455	44	5	38	45.83%
9	Aberdare	24	10	0	14	385	389	50	7	37	41.67%
10	Senghenydd	24	9	2	13	492	534	71	8	37	41.67%
11	Neath Athletic	24	8	0	16	349	489	40	5	29	33.33%
12 R	Cwmgwrach	24	6	1	17	402	521	54	8	27	27.08%
13 R	Banwen..........-6pts	24	4	0	20	321	817	41	4	10	16.67%

^[1]

Ystalyfera 1998/99 Season Results

No.	Date.	Fixture.	Venue.	Opponents.	Result.	F - A.
1	22 Aug.	Friendly	Away	Trebanos	Won	68 - 5
2	29 Aug.	WW Cup PreRd	Away	Llangennech	Lost	22 - 34
3	5 Sep.	League	Home	Rhydyfelin	Won	36 - 17
4	12 Sep.	League	Away	Nantyffyllon	Won	25 - 17
5	19 Sep.	League	Home	Banwen	Won	52 - 15
6	26 Sep.	W Cup 1stRd	Away	Blaengarw	Lost	5 - 44
7	29 Sep.	SV Cup PreRd	Away	Trebanos	Won	37 - 10
8	2 Oct.	league	Away	Nelson	Lost	10 - 13
9	10 Oct.	League	Away	Cwmgwrach	Won	18 - 16
10	17 Oct.	League	Home	Heol Y Cyw	Won	35 - 5
11	7 Nov.	League	Home	Aberdare	Won	16 - 10
12	21 Nov.	League	Away	Neath Athletic	Won	23 - 9
13	28 Nov.	League	Away	Senghenydd	Won	32 - 8
14	12 Dec.	League	Home	Tylorstown	Won	28 - 3
15	19 Dec.	League	Away	Bridgend Athletic	Won	28 - 8
16	2 Jan.	League	Home	Cefn Coed	Won	34 - 7
17	9 Jan.	League	Away	Rhydyfelin	Won	14 - 12
18	16 Jan.	League	Home	Nantyffyllon	Won	26 - 17
19	30 Jan.	League	Home	Nelson	Won	36 - 0
20	13 Feb.	League	Home	Cwmgwrach	Won	35 - 0
21	13 Mar.	League	Home	Senghenydd	Won	26 - 10
22	20 Mar.	League	Away	Aberdare	Won	10 - 6
23	27 Mar.	League	Home	Neath Athletic	Won	16 - 13
24	31 Mar.	SV Cup SF	Home	Vardre	Drew	23 - 23
25	7 Apr.	SilverBall QF	Briton Ferry	Nantymoel	Lost	20 - 36
26	13 Apr.	League	Away	Banwen	Won	48 - 15
27	17 Apr.	League	Away	Tylorstown	Won	29 - 21
28	24 Apr.	League	Home	Bridgend Athletic	Won	22 - 3
	1 May.	League	Away	Cefn Coed	Abandoned	17 - 12
29	5 May.	SVCup Final	Morriston	Abercrave	Won	22 - 11
30	12 May.	League	Away	Heol Y Cyw	Lost	14 - 33
31	13 May.	League	Away	Cefn Coed	Won	13 - 12
						820 - 445

^[2]

Ystalyfera 1998/99 Season Player Stats

44.	Player.	PL.	Tries.	Cons.	DGls.	Pens.	Tot Pts.
1	Mike Morgan	30	13	47	2	39	282
2	Damian James	31	23	1			117
3	Wayne Jones	29	18				90
4	John Williams	29	9				45
5	Martyn Stoneman	27	6			2	36
6	Leighton Stoneman	28	7				35
7	Phillip Stoneman	31	6				30
8	Neil Orme	12	5				25
9	Alan Williams	14	4				20
10	Mark McComas	30	3				15
11	Craig Lloyd	30	3				15
12	Peter Abraham Captain	31	3				15
13	David Thomas	7	2				10
14	Andrew Hiseman	9	2				10
15	Ian Morgan	13	2				10
16	Kevin McComas	25	2				10
17	Jason Humphries	30	2				10
18	Ceri Morgan	8	1				5
19	Simon Willis	22	1				5
19	Neil Brown	22	1				5
21	Mark Rewston	25	1				5
22	Phillip Thomas	29	1				5
23	Alun Guerrier	31	1				5
24	Andrew Williams	30
25	Steven Morgan	15
26	Jason Long	12
27	Paul Burnett	10
28	Martin Jones	8
29	Hywel Ace	4
30	Neil Lynch	3
30	Ryan Jones	3
32	Keith Ellingham	2
32	Mark Orford	2
32	Joe Roberts	2
35	Lee Francis	1
35	Gary Guppy	1
35	Luke Ace	1
35	Hywel Williams	1
35	Shane Tucker	1
35	Glen Charles	1
35	Nick Mabbutt	1
35	Adrian Munkley	1
35	Will Close	1
35	Paul Watkins	1
	'Penalty Tries'		3				15
	'Team Total'	31	119	48	2	41	820

^[3]

References

^ "WRU official website". Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ "WRU official website". Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ [Ystalyfera Rugby Archive]

[1] "WRU official website". Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-09-26.

[2] "WRU official website". Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-09-26.

[3] [Ystalyfera Rugby Archive]

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