RUGBY Town complete their consecutive trio of cup games this Saturday with a trip to either Melton Town or Ingles FC in the second qualifying round of the FA Vase.
Valley will be hoping for a similar performance and scoreline to the two knockout games over the past week which saw a stunning 4-2 FA Cup success at Redditch United on Saturday and a comfortable 4-1 victory in the United Counties League Cup at Harborough on Tuesday evening.
Their destination on Saturday will be Ingles who secured a 1-0 victory over Melton Town last night (Wednesday).
Town’s reward for the Redditch FA Cup win is a home tie in the second qualifying round of the competition against Hednesford Town, another team who play two levels above them in the non-league pyramid, on Saturday, September 22.
Rugby were trailing 2-1 at the Trico Stadium last Saturday, when their ace marksman Danico Johnson was sent off with just ten minutes remaining.
Despite this, Town dug deep to stun the hosts with three late strikes and secure their place in the next stage.
As a result of his red card, Johnson will now miss both the upcoming Vase tie and the Hednesford clash as well as the league game at Oadby sandwiched between them next Tuesday.
The loss of leading scorer Johnson, who took his season’s tally to 11 goals with a third hat-trick of the campaign to-date at Harborough, will be a big blow for Valley manager Carl Adams.
However, Adams would have been encouraged to see Johnson’s normal strike partner Charlie Evans also notch a treble at Redditch and his potential replacement up-front Romario Martin open his Town account on Tuesday evening too.
The Harborough victory has earned Rugby a home game against Leicester Nirvana – the only side to beat Town so far this season – in the next round of the League Cup, with the game scheduled to take place at Butlin Road on Tuesday, September 25.
Two new players have joined the club over the past week, with midfielder Lewis Hayden joining from Midland League Premier Division outfit Walsall Wood and another of Town’s academy prospects – defender Josh Steele – also signing on for the first team.
Hayden played the full 90 minutes at Harborough, while Steele joined fellow academy player Jamal Adams in appearing from the bench as Rugby again came from behind to coast to victory.
