Saturday 11th November 2006

Attendance | 278

	David Stone scored a late goal to take his tally to five league goals but it was of little consolation to Rugby

Valley were given a shock by a clinical Stamford as Rugby slumped to a 6-2 home defeat to the struggling Daniels.

The freak result can be attributed to poor defending, individual errors, clinical finishing and an outstanding performance from Stamford's debutant goalkeeper.

The visitors took the lead against the run of play after thirteen minutes when Farhad Afandiyev's goalkick was held up in the high wind and caught the Rugby defence off-guard allowing Staurt Wilson to run through unopposed and finish with ease.

Four minutes later and Stamford had doubled their lead when a high swirling corner wasn't cleared from inside the six yard box and Greetham stabbed the ball home from close range.

Stamford then had their best spell of the game - possession-wise - before Rugby began to assert themselves on the game.

Matt Gearing missed a glaring chance from four yards when it was easier to score and Danny Hall was denied after a rasping strike after a good save.

But Danny Hall got his name on the scoresheet when he and Willis Francis combined from a corner before curling a powerful shot into the near post from 20 yards.

Francis then presented Hall with a chance to equalise when he floated a delightful ball over the Stamford defence only for Hall to be foiled by an excellent save.

The start of the second half saw 20 minutes of Rugby pressure, but they could not find the elusive goalscoring touch. David Stone should have scored when put through one-on-one just after the break, but his lofted effort was expertly saved before both Ross Harris & Chris Tullin saw efforts tipped over the bar.

Then, out of nowhere, Stamford effectively won the game when ex-Daniel Delroy Gordon made an uncharacteristic error, missing a crucial clearance leaving Gareth Pritchard to run through on goal and curl the ball superbly into the top corner, despite the best efforts of Tullin on the goal line.

This goal sparked a freak four minutes in which Prichard netted his hat-trick by netting from the penalty spot after being dubiously brought down before heading in Wilson's cross to make it 5-1 with twenty minutes remaining.

Valley still tried to play football despite the shock and still created chances, the best falling to Jason Taylor who fired wide from six yards at the far post.

Stamford piled on more embarrassment with twelve minutes remaining as Martin Wormall ran through unopposed and wrong-footed Afandiyev to make it 6-1 without the Rugby stopper making a save all game.

Again, Valley still gave it a go and Taylor saw his effort from a corner cleared off the line before Rugby finally got some consolation as David Stone poked home from close range after a corner.

Rugby Lineup:

	Farhad Afandiyev
	Ross Harris
	Chris Tullin
	Delroy Gordon
	Craig Herbert (c)
	Danny Hall Scored 1
	Matthew Gearing
	WILLIS FRANCIS Star Man Booked
	Jason Taylor
	David Stone Scored 1 Booked
	Aaron Stringfellow

Used Substitutes

	Tom Breward
	David Kolodynski