An
82nd minute winner from substitute David Blenkinsopp
saw them through in a game with few genuine goalscoring
opportunities. Midland Division opponents Stourbridge
rarely troubled the Valley, though the home side
did let a Jason Taylor lead slip before Blenkinsopp
saved the crowd from an additional half an hour
of extra time with his neat finish.
After
the disappointing performance at Maidenhead at
the weekend, Billy Jeffrey shuffled his pack a
little, reintroducing Andy
Commander, Ross
Harris and David
Kolodynski to his starting line-up.
Delroy Gordon
was given a new role in the side in the heart
of midfield.
Kolodynski
had the game's first two real chances, firstly
his clever lob from an acute angle had Glassboys'
keeper Lewis Solly back-pedalling to gather the
ball safely and then another lofted effort which
sailed over the bar after strike partner Jason
Taylor had flicked on a long clearance.
The
visitors appeared to be showing little ill effect
from the late arrival at the ground of many of
their squad after getting caught up in an accident
on the motorway. However, they also lacked quality
in the last third of the pitch, and apart from
a dangerous cross from Scott Stevenson which flashed
across the box and an adventurous overhead kick
from Morgan Brookes, Rugby's defence dealt comfortably
with their attacking play.
Willis
Francis's long range effort drifted wide on 32
minutes and Taylor almost got on the end of Kolodynski's
incisive through ball with the half-time whistle
approaching.
The
Valley took the lead four minutes into the second
period, when Stourbridge failed to deal with Chris
Tullin's low cross into the box, and the ball
sat up conveniently at the near post allowing
Jason Taylor
to apply a simple head home from close range for
his 16th goal of the season.
Matt
Gearing found some space in the penalty box shortly
after, but after chesting down Williams's cross,
he was unable to get a telling shot on goal. Gearing
then used his pace to get in behind the Stourbridge
defence, but his cross was too long, and the ball
was cleared.
On
71 minutes, Rugby gifted their opponents an equaliser,
when Farhad Afandiyev - who had shown good form
in the previous two games - dropped a corner from
the left, and Brookes was on-hand to hook the
ball into an unguarded net.
The
introduction of Blenkinsopp in response to this
setback provided Town with a clear spark, and
when Taylor touched on a Francis free-kick, David
Blenkinsopp was the first to respond
- smashing the ball high into the net before it
could hit the ground.
Blenkinsopp
then broke down the left-hand wing, though his
cross was just too high for Taylor, with Gearing
unable to keep his shot down from the resulting
loose ball.
Another
fine run from Blenkinsopp moments ended with a
shot going just wide, and Gearing, Taylor and
Williams also had off-target efforts as Rugby
ended the game in the ascendance.
Report
by Jon Venner.
