BOGEY SIDE CIREN DELIVER LATE BLOW

David Stone's good form continued but he could not find the breakthrough for Valley at Butlin Road

Valley's six match unbeaten league run came to an end on Saturday, when a late goal from Cirencester substitute Dan Hilder settled a game lacking any real quality at Butlin Road.

Ciren substitute Hilder pounced on a rare handling error from Rugby keeper Simon Lynn to force the ball home from close range, after fellow replacement Paul Hunt had found space on his side's right and sent in a low cross.

The visitors' goal came just as Town had finally started to make a serious impression on the game, with new boy Ramon Singh Manak blazing over from six yards after good work by David Stone on 82 minutes, and then shortly after Cirencester keeper Matty Bulman making an excellent low save from David Staff's deflected snap shot.

The away side had just edged a generally poor first half. The ultimate culprit Lynn had pulled off a trio of fine saves in quick succession, getting down well to John Else's well-struck effort, grabbing Andrew Chapman's on-target strike at the second attempt and then keeping out a shot from Ciren captain Chris Collins.

Valley fans had to wait until the nearly the half-time whistle for their first attempt on goal, when Stephan Morley's long-range chip was comfortably caught by Bulman.

The introduction of Manak after the interval did at least bring some more urgency to Rugby's play, and provide the linkage between the midfield and the attack that had been lacking in the first period, and he twice sent efforts from the edge of the box wide of the target.

With the subsequent introduction of Stefan McGrath - also making his competitive debut for the club - and the resulting switch of David Staff to a more advanced position, Valley finally started to play with the confidence they had shown in their recent league games, and looked the more likely winners.

However Hilder dashed Rugby's hopes with his opportunistic finish, and Valley slipped one place to seventh in the BGBL Premier Division as a result.

Valley Lineup: Lynn 5, Stringfellow 7, Morley 6, Herbert 6, Platnauer 6, Breward 6, Blake 6, Edge 5 (Manak 6), Aladetoun 6 (McGrath 6), STONE 7*, Staff 6.
Subs Not Used: Kabongo, Harris.
Bookings: n/a.
Sent Off: None.

Report by Jon Venner.