It's two out of two so far for unconvincing Rugby Town

PICTURES BY MARTIN PULLEY

Rugby Town emerged with two victories from their two games over the past week, which included the reward of a place in the FA Cup Preliminary Round against Stone Old Alleynians a week Saturday, writes Jon Venner.

Valley enjoyed a first win in the competition in three years with their single-goal success over Boldmere St.Michaels at Butlin Road at the weekend - thanks to Max Johnson’s late strike, before following this up with a 4-2 success in Tuesday evening’s local derby at Long Buckby in the UCL Premier Division.

It was an unconvincing performance from Town in the cup last Saturday though, and even when the visitors were reduced to ten men early in the second half with the dismissal of ex-Rugby man Steve Palmer after a receiving a second yellow card, they struggled to bring any real rhythm to their play.

Barry Fitzharris had squandered their best chance of the opening period when lifting one over the bar from a good position, with Johnson finally breaking the deadlock with just three minutes of normal time remaining when he finished off a fine move, which ultimately saw Dylan Parker pick him out in the box with his cross from the left.

Town again struggled at times in their midweek victory at Buckby’s Station Road ground and it was very much a case of the Danico Johnson-David Kolodynski show, with the former providing all three assists for yet another hat-trick in a Valley shirt from the club’s all-time leading scorer - with Johnson sandwiching a goal in between for himself from the spot.

The gallant hosts had twice pegged back Rugby though, with Ryan Ansell quickly levelling up Kolodynski’s 17th minute opener - a close range volley from Johnson’s powerfully driven cross.

Johnson’s successful penalty restored Valley’s lead ahead of the break though, after he had himself been pulled back in the box.

Long Buckby sub Baillie O’Reilly equalised again just after the hour mark with a neat chest down and volley in off the post, after Town had failed to clear their lines properly.

However Rugby were back in the lead on 71 minutes, when Kolodynski finished off another Johnson assist, before Kolodynski put the game out of reach smashing home a rebound after more intricate work and a decent shot from his strike partner.

Next up for Town is a visit to new territory this Saturday when they visit Godmanchester Rovers in the league.

The Cambridgeshire-based club were transferred into the UCL structure in the summer from the Eastern Counties League and made an impressive debut in their first game there with a 7-1 victory at Biggleswade United last Tuesday.