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

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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

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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

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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

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  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]