Town fall to 3-0 defeat in final game of the season, but finish third in debut UCL Premier Division season - The Rugby Observer

Town fall to 3-0 defeat in final game of the season, but finish third in debut UCL Premier Division season

Rugby Editorial 1st May, 2019   0

RUGBY Town ended their debut UCL Premier Division on a sour note, after succumbing to a 3-0 thrashing away to Harborough Town on Saturday.

Valley went into the dead rubber game knowing a third-place finish was the outcome regardless of the result, but never looked likely to get going in Leicestershire.

Keenah Rosser, Harry Holloway and Lewis Rankin returned to the starting line-up, but they could not have foreseen their side’s downfall – after falling behind to an opening minute goal.

Aaron Preston played an incisive pass to carve open the Town defence, allowing Daniel Forbes to latch onto the ball and dispatch past Matt Hill.




Rankin fired a left-footed drive that was punched away by Glen Giles, whilst Hill had to keep out Forbes again, followed by a stop from Callum Milne’s free-kick from the edge of the area.

Edwin Ahenkorah saw his effort cleared off the line, but that was about as good as it got for Valley.


The hosts doubled their lead when poor defending allowed Forbes to square the ball for Milne to tap in, which proceeded a dismal second-half for Rugby.

A final killer blow was delivered with 17 minutes to play, when Finlay Gray raced past two Valley players to meet a clearance upfield and score.

The goal proved a bizarre one, given that Rugby were in the process of making a substitution prior to the goal being scored.

It was with the assistant referee’s permission that the change was to be made, but the referee failed to spot the incident and allowed the goal to stand.

Both Callum Traynor and Gray hit the Rugby woodwork in the dying moments, but fortunately for the visitors, their blushes were spared.

Over at the club’s awards evening, Charlie Evans was the big winner, scooping four accolades – the players’ and supporter’s player of the year awards, followed by the golden boot and media star man award.

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