Scott Matthews dominates Pooler awards evening
Pontypool Rugby Football Club held their Annual Presentation Evening at The Parkway Hotel and Spa, Cwmbran on Friday, writes Ray Ruddick. Around 150 guests were in attendance including Club President and all-time great Graham Price MBE, Lynne Neagle the local Member of the Senedd and Torfaen County Borough Council Leader Anthony Hunt.
Executive Chairman Peter Jeffreys welcomed everyone and thanked all who has, in any way, helped the club during the past season. He particularly mentioned the revived Pontypool Rugby Supporters’ Club who handed over a cheque to Pontypool RFC for £10,000. Peter then handed the microphone over to the Master of Ceremonies, former Pontypool and Wales hooker Nigel Meek.
The award winners were as follows:
Captain’s Trophy (presented by Head Coach Tom Hancock) – Mike Herbert
Highest Points Scorer (presented by Backs Coach Craig Evans) – Kieran Meek (126) (absent so Mike Herbert collected the award on his behalf)
Highest Try Scorer (presented by Tom Hancock) – Morgan Allen (8)
Supporters’ Player of the Season (presented by Club Archivist and Statistician Ray Ruddick) – Scott Matthews
Players’ Player of the Season (presented by Club Captain Mike Herbert) – Scott Matthews
Sponsors Players of the Season (presented by Peter Jeffreys) – Sam Scarfe
Young Player of the Season (presented by Head of Performance Gareth Betts) – Ryan Jones (absent, so Evan Minto collected the award on his behalf)
Club Tie for 20+ Appearances (presented by Lynne Neagle MS) – Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths (31, qualified for a club tie last season but was not at last May’s Presentation Evening), Joe Davies (36), Ioan Duggan (24), Lance Randall (21) and Carrick McDonough (20). Huw Anderson (25), Ewan Rosser (24), Ryan Jones (23) and Harri Ford also qualified for club ties, but they were not in attendance.
Jersey for 50+ Appearances – Kelvyn Williams (82), who passed the 50-appearance mark last season, was absent from last season’s Presentation Evening so he was presented with his jersey by Graham Price and Marcus Jones (67), Kyan Best (59), Morgan Allen (56), Dan Hill (55) and Morgan Lloyd (50, who was also presented with his club tie, which was due last season but he was absent from last year’s Presentation Evening) were presented with their jerseys by Anthony Hunt.
Club Cap for 100+ Appearances (presented by Graham Price) – Ieuan Jones (106) and Callum Davies (103).
Special Award (presented by Peter Jeffreys) – Bob Stewart, for 35 years’ service to rugby, notably with Hereford RFC and Pilgrims RFC
Player of the Season (presented by Graham Price) – Scott Matthews
Chairman’s Award (presented by Gill and Melissa Calder-Matthews) – Denise Emmett
Denise Emmett was the very worthy recipient of the Chairman’s Award with 27 years association with the club. As one of the club’s volunteers, she has run the ticket office very efficiently for many years. Congratulations, Denise, on this thoroughly deserved recognition, only the second lady to win this prestigious award.
It was announced at the end of proceedings that Scott Matthews will be club captain for the 2026-27 campaign – his fifth season at the helm. Scott joined the club at the start of the 2018-19 season and took over the captaincy the following season (2019-20). Then Covid hit in March 2020 when rugby was suspended and there was no rugby in 2020-21. Scott led the side for the next three seasons 2021-2024, including the invincible season of 2022-23. Mike Herbert took over for 2024-25 and 2025-26 and now Scott, a great clubman and inspirational leader, will lead the side again next season – many congratulations, Scott.
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Pontypool RFC, Pontypool Park, Pontypool, South Wales, NP4 8AT
