Saturday 6th January 2007

Attendance | 207

	Captain Craig Herbert can do nothing to stop Ciren as Valley slump to 3-1 defeat

The Valley slipped to their fifth home defeat of the season last Saturday in another incident-packed Butlin Road encounter.

Not for the first time this season, they gave themselves a second half mountain to climb after conceding twice from their opponents' only meaningful strikes of the first period - with Centurions' wing-back Rene Regis the unlikely beneficiary of slack marking near the beginning and end of the half.

Despite a late rally which saw another goal off the bench for youth team striker David Kolodynski, hopes were finally extinguished by a last minute Cirencester penalty - which also saw Rugby's Aaron Stringfellow dismissed.

	Delroy Gordon saw a late equaliser ruled out for offside - much to the home fans' disappointment

Boss Billy Jeffrey recalled Ross Harris to his starting eleven, ending Andy Commander's three match run in the side - which had also seen three yellow cards. Cirencester started brightly and opened the scoring after just 3 minutes, when Regis popped up on the left hand corner of the box to drill the ball through the legs of Farhad Afandiyev, after Lee Smith had broken down the opposite wing.

Jeffrey immediately rejigged his line-up, opting for a 3-5-2 formation with Chris Tullin assuming a sweeper's role and Harris playing in a more advanced position on the right.

Whilst the re-organisation clearly had the desired effect in terms of the balance of play, once more Jeffrey's young side discovered that merely outplaying the opposition and creating a string of goalscoring opportunities does not always generate its justified reward.

Matters got worse when Regis's - and Cirencester's - second shot off the game deflected off a defender and looped over Afandiyev on 39 minutes to increase the visitors' advantage.

In between the Regis double, the Valley had been frustrated by the flag of an official, the base of the post and the efforts of keeper Kevin Sawyer.

Almost immediately following the game's opener, Delroy Gordon had finished off Danny Hall's free-kick, but the goal was ruled out for a correct offside decision.

On 26 minutes Harris's low shot cannoned off the upright with Sawyer beaten after a defence splitting pass from Hall and a cut-back from David Stone. Sawyer then pulled off two fine saves in close succession, the first from Hall's curling shot and the second in tipping over Willis Francis's long-range half-volley.

Earlier in the half, Jason Taylor's persistence had deserved better, when he chased down a lost cause and hurried Sawyer into an error on the heavy surface, but unfortunately the ball would not fall properly for him and the danger was averted.

A goal early in the second half was vital if another Rugby comeback was to be on the cards, and Matt Gearing's run at pace into the box and quick one-two with Stone almost provided the required impetus. However Gearing's final shot lacked both power and precision, and was comfortably dealt with by Sawyer.

Another shot from distance by Francis was deflected to safety, and at the other end a buoyant Regis was clearly in search of his third of the game - seeing a pair of good chances go narrowly wide.

Steven Lowe blazed another good opportunity high of the goal, after the dangerous Smith had picked him out with a pinpoint cross.

The introduction of Kolodynski and the later addition of Gordon to the Rugby attack ensured that chances continued to come Rugby's way. Taylor saw his close-range shot blocked and Sawyer only just managed to tip a swirling corner from Hall over his crossbar.

The breakthrough finally came on 86 minutes, when Stone seized on a short back-pass and rolled the ball across the box to provide David Kolodynski with a simple tap-in.

Shortly after, Stone broke forward once more and from the resulting cross, Sawyer again made a hash of his clearance, with the ball falling to an unmarked Taylor in front of him. The striker then chose to square it to Gordon, when perhaps a direct shot on goal would have been a better option, and despite helping the ball home, Gordon was once more adjudged to have been in an offside position - although this time the decision was a more debatable one.

Undeterred by this disappointment, Town ploughed on again in search of an equaliser. Stone's chip into the box was touched just wide by Kolodynski, and after a parried save from Sawyer the ball again would just not sit right for a follow-up effort from Taylor.

With the game entering its final seconds, Afandiyev joined his fellow team-mates upfield for a corner, and after failing to get a touch from the second phase ball into the box, he was unable to back track to his goalmouth with the necessary speed to deal with the Cirencester counter.

This left Stringfellow as the last-line of defence to face Regis as he bore down on goal for what now looked like a certain hat-trick. The ex-Coventry City academy prospect though somehow managed to get his head to the powerful on-target shot, but cruelly then saw the ball bounce down onto his hand.

Referee Hobbis had no alternative but to award a penalty and send Stringfellow from the field of play. Smith stepped forward and converted the spot-kick to compound Rugby's miserable afternoon.

Report by Jon Venner.

Rugby Lineup:

	Farhad Afandiyev
	Ross Harris
	Chris Tullin
	Craig Herbert (c)
	Delroy Gordon
	DANNY HALL Star Man
	Matt Gearing
	Willis Francis
	Jason Taylor
	David Stone
	Aaron Stringfellow

Used Substitutes

	Andy Commander
	David Kolodynski Scored 1