Rugby Town in the hunt for second after title hopes fade - The Rugby Observer

Rugby Town in the hunt for second after title hopes fade

Rugby Editorial 12th Apr, 2019   0

RUGBY Town head to Holbeach United on Saturday (3pm) looking to avenge their inept showing in a 1-0 loss to Cogenhoe United last weekend.

Alex Lowery’s goal just after the hour mark which was enough to beat Carl Adams’ men – making it one win in the last five for Rugby in the UCL Premier Division.

On the positive side, the club welcomed a bumper crowd of over 400 to Butlin Road thanks to a free entry initiative, which proved successful once again with supporters.

Defeat meant, along with Daventry’s 2-1 win over this weekend’s opponents, that Rugby were mathematically ruled out of catching the league leaders – who look set to win the title this weekend should they beat Peterborough Northern Star.




A loss for Deeping Rangers strengthened not only Daventry’s position, but Rugby’s also, in keeping the deficit between second and third down to four points – which Valley are targetting with four games to play.

Rugby went into last weekend’s game unchanged from their victory against Boston, and threatened early on when Dom Perkins’ header into the vicinity of Simeon Tulloch just evaded the forward.


Dan Summerfield registered Rugby’s only first-half shot on target, but he failed to force Zac Cunningham into a sweat with his strike.

Tulloch fared no better in testing the young Cogenhoe custodian after being sent through by Edwin Ahenkorah, whilst Lewis Rankin’s introduction from the bench failed to breathe life into Town’s play.

A double-save by Connor to deny Matt Long resulted in a corner kick, from which an inswinging ball was missed by the Rugby goalkeeper – allowing Lowery the simplest of tasks to touch the ball home.

Despite falling behind, it was Cogenhoe who were likeliest to score, and to compound their miserable afternoon, Summerfield received a second yellow to be sent for an early bath in stoppage time.

Valley have to pick themselves up on Saturday against another side who are out of form in Holbeach – who have lost the last three games and subsequently dropped to sixth in the table.

Elsewhere, the club are set to host two FA Women’s National League finals on Sunday at Butlin Road.

First up is the FA WNL Reserve Cup final between Charlton Athletic Reserves and Blackburn Rovers, followed by the FA WNL Plate final between Liverpool Feds and West Bromwich Albion.

Gates open at 10am ahead of the first final at 11am, folowed by the Plate final at 3pm – with tickets available at £5 for adults, including a match programme, £2.50 for concessions and a £1 for children.

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