JUSTIN Marsden rolled back the years as Rugby Town rescued a point in a 1-1 draw with FA Vase holders Newport Pagnell Town.
Valley fell behind to Ben Shepherd’s penalty on 51 minutes only for Marsden to equalise within a minute to earn Rugby a share of the spoils at Willen Road.
The result means Rugby sit third in the United Counties League Premier Division South table and are two points behind leaders March Town United with a game in hand.
Both teams were hoping to retain their respective unbeaten starts to the season and Rugby’s came under threat when Caine Elliott was penalised for handball early in the second period.
Newport captain Shepherd made no mistake from the resulting spot kick to edge the home side into the lead.
However, veteran midfielder Marsden levelled almost immediately from the restart when he showed good composure to score his second goal of the season from David Kolodynski’s cutback.
Valley are next in action away at Grantham Town in the FA Cup First Qualifying Round on Saturday, September 3 with kick-off at 3pm at the South Kesteven Sports Stadium.
