TOWN MAKE HARD WORK OF LATEST VICTORY

Town grabbed another three points to maintain their push towards the play-offs against Northwood, but it was far from a convincing performance against one of this season’s league strugglers.

By Jon Venner.

Photo: Martin Pulley

Rugby Town goalscorer Melvin Gourlay goes close in the first half before he finally got his reward with his 73rd minute winner

Melvin Gourlay’s 73rd minute strike eventually settled the game, but it was the visitors who created the majority of the chances throughout, and they will count themselves extremely unlucky to return to Middlesex empty handed.

Valley boss Martin Sockett kept faith with the starting eleven that had eased to victory the previous week at Marlow, and they lined-up against a Northwood side with a new manager and seven players on debut.

Sockett went for an adventurous 3-4-3 formation from the off, and the visitors were quick to exploit the extra space around Rugby’s defence with James Bent and Wayne Jackson both having good chances within the first ten minutes.

Town continued to struggle early on, and Oliver Hawkins speculative effort from thirty five yards almost caught Dave Clarke off his line, and the Valley keeper took two attempts to gather another strike from distance – this time from Jackson.

Rugby finally created something of their own at the other end, with Ben Steane chipping into the arms of the backpedalling Sam Styles, Gourlay shooting straight at the keeper and Leon Simpson heading Claudiu Hoban’s cross over the target.

Northwood’s Barkley Miguel-Panzo should really have opened the scoring on 26 minutes when he followed up on Clarke’s parry from Mark Burgess’s long range effort, but instead the delightfully named winger blasted into the side netting from just wide of the goal.

Rugby continued to look nervous on the ball, and all too often were wayward in their delivery – although Tyrone Fagan’s cross the far post was only just out of the reach of Simpson, after Fagan and Steane had combined well down the left.

The away side finished the first half in the ascendancy with Miguel-Panzo and Bent both having further chances in its closing minutes.

Hopes that Town would re-emerge for the second half refreshed and ready to dominate matters were soon forgotten, when Kevin Wynter had another great chance on 49 minutes – extending Clarke to a fine low save.

Clarke then blocked another low effort from Miguel-Panzo, before Winter shot wide after Valley had dithered defensively.

Finally around the hour mark, Rugby established themselves on the game, with Paddy Connolly’s pull back across the penalty box almost playing in his skipper Nik Preston, and then Connolly flicked his header to Steane’s free-kick just wide and Fagan had a shot cleared from the goal line in quick succession.

Gourlay’s winner followed after Northwood had failed to clear their lines properly, with the central defender smashing home his second goal of the season in emphatic manner - much to the relief of the home bench and supporters.

The goal knocked the stuffing out of the plucky visitors, and from then on Town looked more assured in their play.

Substitute Seb Hamilton could twice have added to the margin of victory – when first he side footed his effort straight at Styles from ten yards and shortly after he headed into Styles’s arms, again from close-in after Connolly’s cross had picked him out.

Rugby line-up: Clarke, Moran, Heath, Preston, Gourlay, Wesley, Steane, Connolly, Simpson, Hoban (Hamilton), Fagan (Gundelach). Subs not used: Oulton, Hall, Goodbody.

Northwood line-up: Styles, Rapper, Vargas, Fowler, Lyall, Burgess, Miguel-Panzo, Wynter, Hawkins, Bent, Jackson. Subs: Hatcher, Walker, Grant, Williams, Orphanou.