SECOND HALF VALLEY SURRENDER

It was another sorry night for Rugby with Tony Dobson’s men again on the wrong end of a heavy away defeat – which also means it is now a total of ten games without a victory in their 2009-10 Zamaretto Premier Division campaign so-far.

By Jon Venner.

Photo: Martin Pulley

Midfielder David Staff gets a shot away during the second half in which Valley collapsed.

Valley had shown an element of promise in the first half of the game, but just before the interval they fell behind to a Jay Denny strike.

Once ex-Town man Tom Breward had extended Yeltz’s advantage eight minutes after the restart, the visitors made an all too familiar capitulation and realistically could have gone down by more than the 5-1 deficit in the end.

Once more Rugby had besieged keeper Andy Stevens to thank for achieving the relative level of respectability, with the hosts seemingly able to cut through a vulnerable Valley defence at will in a woeful second period for the away side.

Ex-Aston Villa and QPR striker Stefan Moore was Halesowen’s chief tormentor, with the one-time England Under-21 international clearly looking a significant cut above the general standard at this level.

Having said that Rugby did create a couple of chances of their own in an effort to break the deadlock early in the game – with Matt Gearing dragging his shot wide after good work by Shawn Richards and then Karl Fellows seeing his set-play effort cleared off the line by Henry Eze.

At the other end, twice Stevens kept out Moore – who had only failed to score in one of Halesowen’s previous league matches beforehand – with fine reaction saves, and Moore’s strike partner James Johnson's strike came back off the angle of the woodwork.

However just after Liam Nicell had lifted a good opportunity over the bar on the half volley, Denny was given far too much space in the Rugby area and he coolly slotted home from ten yards to open the scoring.

Stevens's fantastic stop to Johnson’s header shortly after the break set the tone for the new half, and it was no surprise when Breward stole in for a near post header from a corner to make it 2-0 on 53 minutes.

Moore and Johnson continued to terrorise Valley thereafter, allowing the home side to take control of the game at a canter.

Rugby’s threat was limited to half chances and the scraps, with Delroy Gordon’s downward header from David Staff’s corner a rare attacking highlight – which Yeltz keeper Nick Bussey dealt with competently.

Johnson then added a third and Halesowen captain Scott Rickards a fourth in close succession, with the Rugby defence looking even more exposed than normal after Gordon was thrown forward in the hope of sparking an unlikely comeback against the financially troubled opposition.

The visitors’ consolation came on 79 minutes when David Kolodynski made it three goals in three games with a fine individual effort – beating Eze for pace near the halfway line, before holding off a further two Yeltz defenders before firing low past Bussey from the edge of the penalty area.

Moore kept up his incredible record with a final goal for the hosts near the end, helping the ball past Stevens from close range after Johnson had won an initial header from a corner to round off a dreadful second performance for Rugby.

Valley Line-up: Stevens; Pringle, Herbert, Gordon; Nicell, Staff, Simpson (Davis), Fellows, Gearing; Kolodynski, Richards (Castleton). Subs not used: None. Booked: None. Sent off: None.