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The competitive standard of rugby within the fourth Division began to show itself during this season. Four wins in the first twelve games up to Christmas, followed by three wins in the next nine up to the end of March, left the ‘Fera in a precarious position. Difficulties were reflected in the Cup tournaments, early first round exits being the form. Nevertheless typically and with ‘dogged’ resistance and determination, the side earned three consecutive league victories astride an Easter tour win at Wakefield. 121 points were scored in these vital games, including 18 tries, and three sin bins in the process reflected the intensity and effort.
The first match was the most notable being a 48-17 away ‘smothering’ of long time adversaries Tumble – scrum half Phillip Thomas scored two tries, centre Simon Donovan two tries, a try for prop Andrew Key, a try for flanker Stephen Munkley, a try and sin bin for hooker Arwel Williams and a drop goal with five conversions for outside half Damian James. This result was followed seven days later with a 22-6 home win over Mumbles, Donovan scored another two tries, a try for winger Ashley Carter, a try and conversion for D. James and another sin bin [clarification needed] for Williams. The 17-10 home win over Kenfig Hill saw another try for Donovan, a try for Andrew Key, a conversion and drop goal for D. James and a conversion by Martyn Stoneman. This result guaranteed Division Four rugby for Ystalyfera next year. D. James scored 127 points this season, Donovan 8 tries.
Captain for the fourth time was Kevin Williams. Neil Lynch was voted Players Player of the year and Ashley Carter voted favourite amongst the supporters for the second year running.
National League Division 4 West
edit| Pos. | Team. | PL. | W. | D. | L. | F. | A. | Bal. | Try. | Pts. | %. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 P | Pontyberem | 26 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 648 | 228 | +420 | 92 | 72 | 92.31% |
| 2 | Bryncoch | 26 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 712 | 353 | +359 | 100 | 69 | 88.46% |
| 3 | Maesteg Harlequins | 26 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 639 | 325 | +314 | 85 | 64 | 82.69% |
| 4 | Kidwelly | 26 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 492 | 409 | +83 | 61 | 42 | 53.85% |
| 5 | Kenfig Hill | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 461 | 448 | +13 | 50 | 40 | 51.92% |
| 6 | Mumbles | 26 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 516 | 367 | +149 | 57 | 39 | 51.92% |
| 7 | Tenby United | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 369 | 407 | -38 | 48 | 34 | 44.23% |
| 8 | Haverfordwest | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 416 | 522 | -106 | 46 | 32 | 42.31% |
| 9 | Brynamman | 26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 420 | 472 | -52 | 48 | 31 | 40.38% |
| 10 | Ystalyfera | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 411 | 523 | -112 | 51 | 30 | 38.46% |
| 11 | Skewen | 26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 358 | 610 | -252 | 43 | 27 | 34.62% |
| 12 | Gorseinon | 26 | 8 | 1 | 17 | 327 | 495 | -168 | 43 | 25 | 32.69% |
| 13 R | Penclawdd | 26 | 6 | 0 | 20 | 299 | 648 | -349 | 39 | 18 | 23.08% |
| 14 R | Tumble | 26 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 354 | 615 | -261 | 46 | 13 | 17.31% |
Ystalyfera 2002/03 Season Results
edit| No. | Date. | Fixture. | Venue. | Opponents. | Result. | F - A. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 Aug. | Friendly | Home | Banwen | Lost | 12 - 17 |
| 2 | 7 Sep. | League | Away | Tenby United | Lost | 3 - 15 |
| 3 | 14 Sep. | League | Home | Pontyberem | Won | 21 - 9 |
| 4 | 21 Sept. | W Cup 1stRd | Home | Fleur De Lys | Lost | 24 - 31 |
| 5 | 28 Sept. | League | Home | Maesteg Quins | Lost | 12 - 25 |
| 6 | 5 Oct. | League | Away | Haverfordwest | Won | 25 - 24 |
| 7 | 12 Oct. | League | Home | Gorseinon | Lost | 13 - 20 |
| 8 | 26 Oct. | League | Away | Bryncoch | Lost | 10 - 51 |
| 9 | 2 Nov. | League | Home | Penclawdd | Won | 22 - 7 |
| 10 | 9 Nov. | League | Away | Skewen | Lost | 0 - 14 |
| 11 | 30 Nov. | League | Home | Tumble | Won | 12 - 5 |
| 12 | 7 Dec. | League | Away | Mumbles | Lost | 9 - 40 |
| 13 | 14 Dec. | League | Home | Kidwelly | Lost | 20 - 26 |
| 14 | 21 Dec. | League | Away | Kenfig Hill | Lost | 15 - 30 |
| 15 | 28 Dec. | League | Home | Brynamman | Won | 33 - 9 |
| 16 | 4 Jan. | League | Home | Tenby United | Lost | 6 - 20 |
| 17 | 18 Jan. | League | Away | Maesteg Quins | Lost | 13 - 25 |
| 18 | 25 Jan. | League | Home | Haverfordwest | Won | 21 - 6 |
| 19 | 8 Feb. | League | Home | Bryncoch | Lost | 3 - 20 |
| 20 | 21 Feb. | SV Cup 1stRd | Away | Abercrave | Lost | 20 - 30 |
| 21 | 1 Mar. | League | Away | Penclawdd | Lost | 10 - 14 |
| 22 | 12 Mar. | League | Away | Pontyberem | Lost | 7 - 30 |
| 23 | 15 Mar. | League | Home | Skewen | Won | 24 - 6 |
| 24 | 21 Mar. | League | Away | Kidwelly | Lost | 10 - 41 |
| 25 | 5 Apr. | League | Away | Tumble | Won | 48 - 17 |
| 26 | 12 Apr. | League | Home | Mumbles | Won | 22 - 6 |
| 27 | 19 Apr. | Friendly | Away | Wakefield | Won | 34 - 26 |
| 28 | 26 Apr. | League | Home | Kenfig Hill | Won | 17 - 10 |
| 29 | 2 May. | League | Away | Brynamman | Lost | 10 - 22 |
| 30 | 9 May. | League | Away | Gorseinon | Lost | 25 - 31 |
| 501 - 627 |
Ystalyfera 2002/03 Season Player Stats
edit| 52. | Player. | PL. | Tries. | Cons. | DGls. | Pens. | Tot Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Damian James | 27 | 7 | 16 | 5 | 15 | 127 |
| 2 | Simon Donovan | 18 | 8 | 40 | |||
| 3 | Phillip Thomas | 29 | 6 | 3 | 36 | ||
| 4 | Mike Nottingham | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 34 |
| 5 | Martyn Stoneman | 28 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 30 |
| 6 | Arwel Williams | 20 | 5 | 25 | |||
| 7 | Mike Morgan | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 23 |
| 8 | Ashley Carter | 29 | 4 | 20 | |||
| 9 | Peter Abraham | 28 | 3 | 15 | |||
| 10 | David Thomas | 20 | 3 | 15 | |||
| 11 | Andrew Key | 13 | 3 | 15 | |||
| 12 | Simon Chatham | 14 | 2 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 13 | Gareth James | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | ||
| 14 | Kevin Williams Captain | 28 | 2 | 10 | |||
| 15 | Martin Jones | 14 | 2 | 10 | |||
| 16 | Steven Munkley | 10 | 2 | 10 | |||
| 17 | Steven Rees | 3 | 2 | 10 | |||
| 18 | Neil Lynch | 29 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 19 | Alun Guerrier | 26 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 20 | Graham Jones | 19 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 20 | Paul Morris | 19 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 22 | Mark McComas | 17 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 23 | Tristian Davies | 8 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 24 | Alan Williams | 4 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 25 | Neil Orme | 1 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 26 | Ian Morgan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 27 | Neil brown | 23 | |||||
| 28 | Mark Rewston | 17 | |||||
| 29 | Simon Willis | 15 | |||||
| 30 | Paul Williams | 14 | |||||
| 31 | Jason Long | 11 | |||||
| 32 | Neil Amber | 9 | |||||
| 33 | Nigel White | 5 | |||||
| 34 | Paul Davies | 4 | |||||
| 34 | Kevin McComas | 4 | |||||
| 36 | Nathan Hicks | 3 | |||||
| 36 | Nathan Jenkins | 3 | |||||
| 38 | Geraint Lewis | 2 | |||||
| 38 | Daniel Cluroe | 2 | |||||
| 38 | John Williams | 2 | |||||
| 38 | Leighton Prosser | 2 | |||||
| 38 | Paul Strange | 2 | |||||
| 43 | Ian Barrett | 1 | |||||
| 43 | Andrew Hiseman | 1 | |||||
| 43 | Lee Morris | 1 | |||||
| 43 | Peter Withers | 1 | |||||
| 43 | Lee Bennett | 1 | |||||
| 43 | Gareth Noble | 1 | |||||
| 43 | Jason Humphries | 1 | |||||
| 43 | Adrian Munkley | 1 | |||||
| 43 | Steven Willis | 1 | |||||
| 43 | Jason Donovan | 1 | |||||
| 'Penalty Tries' | 2 | 10 | |||||
| 'Team Total' | 30 | 65 | 31 | 9 | 29 | 501 |
References
edit- ^ "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]