RUGBY TOWN: New league leaders taking it a game at a time

Having successfully completed the first challenge of what Valley boss Carl Adams has called ‘a potentially season defining few weeks’, Rugby Town face another tough examination this weekend when third place Quorn are the visitors to Butlin Road.

Town’s dramatic 4-3 home victory over last season’s runners up Deeping last Saturday elevated them to the top of the UCL Premier table - ahead of title favourites Shepshed, who could only draw at Northampton Chenecks.

Adams has now presided over a run of five straight victories in the club’s surge to the divisional summit, although the advantage over Shepshed is just a single point - with the Leicestershire outfit having played a whopping five games less than Rugby.

Valley’s next opponents also slipped up last time out in suffering a surprise 2-1 home defeat to Boston, with Adams reiterating his belief that there are plenty of twists and turns to come before the end of the campaign.

He said: “Other teams at the top are dropping points a bit like we did at the start of the season, and of course this has worked in our favour over the last few weeks.

“It may be a cliche, but we’ve just got to take things a game at a time and concentrate on our own performances and results, and continue the outstanding form that we have been in of late.”

Rugby’s latest success came deep into added-on time, when they completed a turnaround to a 3-1 deficit against fellow promotion contenders Rangers.

Leading scorer Ryan Seal was on-target once more with Valley’s second of the afternoon to take his season’s tally to 15 goals.

That total puts him two ahead of Dylan Parker, who had pulled Town level after 85 minutes.

Adams continued: “We’re averaging just short of five goals a game over the past eight fixtures, and that’s really boosted our goal difference - which could be crucial come the end of the season.”

Following Saturday’s Quorn match, Rugby Town then travel to 14th-placed Rothwell next Tuesday (21st) evening.

They will be on the road again with another away fixture to follow that at lowly Cogenhoe - before yet another six pointer affair at Shepshed on February 1.