The most important event of the 2003/04 Ystalyfera RFC season was the creation of Regional Rugby in 2003, which resulted in a major restructuring of the National League. For Ystalyfera this meant re-classification into Division Three South West.

Adding to the excitement was the first meeting in the league against near neighbours Ystradgynlais RFC since 1980-81 – they were in ‘free-fall’ from their glorious ‘Professional’ era when their only saviour would prove to be their youth squad structure.

Opponents by design were now not too far away in comparison to previous years, Ystalyfera would campaign a relegation battle with Skewen, Seven Sisters, Ystradgynlais and Trebanos, the latter two losing out finishing below the ‘Fera at the end of the season.

Cup exits were again early except for the Welsh Cup. A 1st Round bye was followed by a 2nd Round victory over Taibach 30-19. The 3rd round was a big exit from the event 0-55 away at Bridgend Athletic.

At the time of the first encounter with Ystrad’ on 27 December, the league position was three wins and eight defeats. A 12-3 win with tries from Ashley Carter and Graham Jones, a conversion by Gareth James and sin bins for Neil Lynch and Arwel Williams, stood as the only victory until the next encounter between the sides, when ‘Fera won on 6 March 2004 23-5 at Ynysydarren. Scorers in this second encounter were Ashley Carter one try, Dai Thomas a try, Damian James two conversions and three penalties. Now becoming a regular habit wins in the last two games ensured safety for another season.

Top scorer was Damian James with a personal record of 220 points, he also scored 13 tries, one more than Ashley Carter. Captain this season was Martyn Stoneman. Players Player was Mark Rewston and Supporters Player hooker Tristian Davies.

National League Division 3 South West

Pos. Team. PL. W. D. L. F. A. Bal. Try. Pts.  %.
1 P Banwen 26 25 0 1 893 330 +563 121 75 96.15%
2 P Mumbles 26 22 0 4 886 356 +530 116 66 84.62%
3 Maesteg Harlequins 26 19 1 6 647 367 +280 91 58 75.00%
4 Bryncoch 26 19 1 6 631 403 +228 80 58 75.00%
5 Kenfig Hill 26 16 0 10 637 508 +129 71 48 61.54%
6 Nantyffyllon 26 15 1 10 573 442 +131 78 46 59.62%
7 Glynneath 26 13 1 12 575 481 +94 75 40 51.92%
8 Brynamman 26 10 0 16 402 569 -167 49 30 38.46%
9 Ammanford 26 9 0 17 455 689 -234 56 27 34.62%
10 Skewen 26 9 0 17 417 548 -131 47 27 34.62%
11 Seven Sisters 26 8 1 17 421 585 -164 56 25 32.69%
12 Ystalyfera 26 7 1 18 411 738 -327 51 22 28.85%
13 R Trebanos 26 5 1 20 415 638 -223 43 16 21.15%
14 R Ystradgynlais 26 1 1 24 210 919 -709 34 4 5.77%

[1]

Ystalyfera 2003/04 Season Results

No. Date. Fixture. Venue. Opponents. Result. F - A.
1 14 Aug. Friendly Home Pontardawe Won 49 - 0
2 28 Aug. Friendly Away Taibach Lost 24 - 36
3 2 Sep. WW Cup 1stRd Away Bryncoch Lost 15 - 20
4 6 Sept. League Home Skewen Lost 24 - 28
5 13 Sept. League Away Banwen Lost 13 - 46
6 20 Sep. League Home Nantyffyllon Won 23 - 21
7 27 Sep. SV Cup PreRd Home Vardre Lost 24 - 33
8 4 Oct. League Away Glynneath Lost 3 - 40
9 11 Oct. League Home Bryncoch Lost 15 - 51
10 18 Oct. League Away Kenfig Hill Lost 12 - 37
11 25 Oct. W Cup 2ndRd Home Taibach Won 30 - 19
12 1 Nov. League Away Seven Sisters Lost 11 - 12
13 8 Nov. League Home Mumbles Lost 10 - 38
14 15 Nov. League Away Trebanos Won 31 - 16
15 22 Nov. League Home Ammanford Won 26 - 15
16 29 Nov. WCup 3rdRd Away Bridgend Athletic Lost 0 - 55
17 13 Dec. League Away Brynamman Lost 6 - 23
18 27 Dec. League Away Ystradgynlais Won 12 - 3
19 3 Jan. League Home Banwen Lost 5 - 41
20 10 Jan. League Away Nantyffyllon Lost 9 - 28
21 17 Jan. League Home Glynneath Lost 12 - 53
22 24 Jan. League Away Bryncoch Lost 17 - 19
23 7 Feb. League Home Seven Sisters Drew 22 - 22
24 21 Feb. League Away Ammanford Lost 9 - 32
25 28 Feb. League Away Mumbles Lost 10 - 72
26 6 Mar. League Home Ystradgynlais Won 23 - 5
27 13 Mar. League Home Trebanos Lost 20 - 29
28 26 Mar. League Away Skewen Lost 17 - 19
29 10 Apr. Friendly Away Old Wishworthians Won 43 - 31
30 17 Apr. League Away Maesteg Quins Lost 22 - 38
31 20 Apr. League Home Kenfig Hill Lost 5 - 21
32 24 Apr. League Home Brynamman Won 38 - 31
33 1 May. League Home Maesteg Quins Won 16 - 7
596 - 932

[1]

Ystalyfera 2003/04 Season Player Stats

57. Player. PL. Tries. Cons. DGls. Pens. Tot Pts.
1 Damian James 27 13 31 8 23 220
2 Ashley Carter 28 12 60
3 Phillip Thomas 26 8 2 44
4 Martyn Stoneman Captain 28 3 3 1 2 30
5 Simon Chatham 31 5 25
6 Gareth James 9 5 4 22
7 Peter Abraham 20 3 2 21
8 Graham Jones 23 4 20
9 Leighton Prosser 28 3 1 17
10 Mark Rewston 31 3 15
11 David Thomas 18 3 15
12 Arwel Williams 17 3 15
13 Mark McComas 10 3 15
14 Kevin Williams 29 2 1 12
15 Tristian Davies 27 2 10
15 Jason Humphries 27 2 10
17 Neil Lynch 31 1 5
18 Alun Guerrier 29 1 5
19 Neil Brown 26 1 5
20 Martin Jones 13 1 5
21 Jason Long 8 1 5
22 Simon Donovan 4 1 5
23 Kevin McComas 2 1 5
23 Andrew Luther 2 1 5
25 Paul Morris 16
26 Paul Williams 11
26 Keiran Lloyd 11
28 Craig Lewis 9
29 David Willis 7
29 Andrew Key 7
29 Steven Munkley 7
29 Christopher Hicks 7
33 Nigel White 6
34 Dan Cluroe 5
34 Jason Donovan 5
36 Llyr Hopkin 4
37 Ceri Howells 3
37 Simon Willis 3
37 Paul Strange 3
37 Paul John Stevens 3
41 Ian Morgan 2
41 Joe Roberts 2
41 Lyndon Jones 2
44 Christopher Thomas 1
44 John Williams 1
44 Lee Morris 1
44 Richie Gregg 1
44 Jamie Bradley 1
44 Jonathan Rees 1
44 Alistair Rees 1
44 Sam Richards 1
44 Alan Williams 1
44 Kevin Allen 1
44 Nathan Davies 1
44 Steven Willis 1
44 Martin Bennett 1
44 Alun Rees 1
'Penalty Tries' 1 5
'Team Total' 33 78 43 11 29 596

[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "WRU official website". Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
  2. ↑ [Ystalyfera Rugby Archive]
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