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 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

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%

[1]

Ystalyfera 2002/03 Season Results

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

[2]

Ystalyfera 2002/03 Season Player Stats

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

[3]

References

  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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