RUGBY Town are back in league action this weekend when they make the relatively short trip to Desborough Town.
Having seen their FA Vase exploits come to a premature end on Saturday at Boldmere St Michaels, Valley will be aiming to boost their promotion charge in the United Counties Premier.
A lacklustre second half performance from Valley saw Boldmere turn around a 1-0 deficit after the interval to secure victory.
Romario Martin had scored for Town for the third game in a row to give his side the lead from the spot, but they were then reduced to ten men when defender Loyiso Recci was sent off and finally succumbed to a late winner from the hosts.
Recci will now miss this Saturday’s game at Desborough serving his one-match ban for the offence, with third-placed Rugby looking to maintain the pressure on the division’s top two – Daventry and Pinchbeck – who meet at Communications Park at the weekend.
Desborough are without a win in five games and sit 12th.
Their player/coach Jason Turner featured for Valley in two separate spells in 1999 and 2009, with the now-veteran striker scoring three goals in ten starts at the club.
Another Desborough squad member, Craig Maisiri, was part of the Town set-up in 2013 that just missed out on promotion to the Southern League Premier under David Stringer.
Valley and Desborough have met twice previously at first team level. In 1974 Rugby coasted to a 5-0 victory in an FA Vase first round replay, with John Bull (3) and Terry McKee (2) on target following a 2-2 draw in the original tie.
Following their Vase exit, Town’s only remaining cup interest is the Birmingham Senior Cup in which they travel to Redditch United on Tuesday in the first round of the competition.
The Worcestershire side are now managed by ex-Bromsgrove Sporting boss Paul Smith and his arrival at the end of September has finally seen a turnaround in fortunes after a very poor start to the Southern Premier Central season.
