lineup

mike payne

steve evans

andy commander

gary moran

craig herbert

gary redgate

rory squire

craig dutton

robbie beard

justin marsden

neil melvin

subs used

dave pearson

jon douglas

On Bank Holiday Monday the home side failed to find the net after dominating proceedings for the last 50 minutes.

Dobson had to reshuffle his starting line-up with defender Adam Hart absent through work commitments and mid-fielder Danny Hall left out after tweaking a knee. Skipper Craig Herbert returned after missing the last four games with a hamstring injury.

After a dreadful opening half hour, the first moment of note came in the 34th minute when United defender Andy Commander was booked for a challenge on Ben Fitch.

The unlucky Cirencester player was eventually stretchered off with a leg injury to be replaced by Gary Wotton. When play resumed Valley suddenly came to life to put the visitors under pressure before the break. Goalkeeper Mark Bryant was forced to tip shots from Craig Dutton and Robbie Beard over the bar, and save with his legs from Neil Melvin. Justin Marsden then fired narrowly wide.

A minute after the restart Melvin's near post corner flicked off a defender's head, bouncing to safety via the top of the crossbar.

Marsden looked odds on to open Rugby's account in the 56th minute when he latched on to Melvin's defence splitting pass. However, defender Kevin Halliday had other ideas and took the ball off the Rugby striker's toes with a well timed last ditch challenge. Against the general run of play Cirencester substitute Scott Griffin escaped only to blaze wide from a good position.

And, after Wotton did enough in front of his own goal to put off United substitute Dave Pearson, Rugby goalkeeper Mike Payne came out to make a vital block from Griffin.

With time running out Pearson was unlucky when he cut inside and curled a delightful shot beyond the dive of Bryant only to see the ball come back off the upright. Just before the end a corner from Steve Evans found Beard at the back post who headed over the bar.