KOLO SEES RED TO WRECK TIV-VICTORY BID

David Staff was on target with an excellent free kick in the first half

Valley extended their unbeaten league run to five games, sharing the points with the Devon side in a bruising encounter at Butlin Road.

However, having seen his side established a 2-1 lead halfway through the second half, and looking comfortable in that position, Rugby boss Billy Jeffrey will ultimately look upon the draw as a lost opportunity rather than a point gained.

The visitors had originally opened the scoring on 23 minutes, but Valley battled back well and had edged ahead thanks to a sweetly struck free-kick by David Staff and David Stone's fourth goal of the season.

The balance swung back towards Tivvy though when Rugby sub David Kolodynski was sent off for kicking-out at opposition captain Nathan Rudge not long after Stone had struck home.

Rudge followed Kolodynski off the park just over ten minutes later after committing his umpteenth illegal challenge of the game, but in between the two dismissals, Tiverton took advantage of their numerical advantage - with the unfortunate Aaron Stringfellow helping the ball into his own net from Chris Young's cross.

In a game with such a relatively high incident and goal count, clear cut chances were however generally limited.

Neither keeper had been called into action in the first half until the 21st minute, when Scott Musgrove curled his effort into Tivvy's Ray Johnstone's hands.

Two minutes later, the visitors took the lead with their first threatening attack, when Glen Gould broke through in space on the right hand wing and slid the ball under Simon Lynn.

Staff's 36th minute free-kick equaliser had come after Rudge had once more taken out the lively Stone, and with half-time approaching Staff almost added to this from a near identical situation - again after Rudge's tackle had floored the same striker - but this time his goalbound set-piece was headed off the line.

Both sides had a good opportunity to score shortly after the restart, with Rugby skipper Craig Herbert failing to convert from close range after Stephan Morley's free-kick had caught the visiting defence sleeping, and then Tivvy's Paul Wyatt somehow lost control of the ball when free in the box.

On 67 minutes a by-now battered Stone finished off a quick break from Kolodynski, firing home off the legs of a diving Johnstone to give his side a deserved lead.

Kolodynski's red card and August player of the month Stringfellow's own goal followed though, and despite finishing the game the stronger, Valley were unable to score again - with Staff coming closest with his far post, off-target header from Ashley Blake's cross in the game's closing minutes.

Valley Lineup: Lynn 7, Stringfellow 8, Morley 7, Herbert 7, Platnauer 6, Breward 7, Blake 6, Musgrove 8, Aladetoun 6 (Kolodynski 5), STONE 9*, Staff 7.
Subs Not Used: Barcherini, Edge, Harris.
Bookings: n/a.
Sent Off: Kolodynski.

Report by Jon Venner.