VALLEY POWER DOWN AT UXBRIDGE

Rugby Town crashed to an unexpected defeat against lowly Uxbridge with a poor display which allowed clubs around them to catch up.

By Craig Webb.

An insipid performance from Valley was punished by the hosts with three second half goals, in the space of seven minutes.

The game did not start until 8.30pm due to a power failure in the Uxbridge area and it was touch and go whether the game would go ahead.

If only the lights stayed off, because Rugby produced their worst league display of the season.

Manager Martin Sockett made the one change from the draw at Barton with Richard Wesley now well again returning at the expense of Seb Hamilton.

The game was very scrappy in the opening minutes with neither side managing to create anything or pass the ball very well.

The first shot of the game came in the 27th minute from Dean Clarke for the home side but his effort was well saved by Dave Clarke preventing the hosts taking the lead.

When Rugby did try and get the ball into the attacking areas the forward line kept straying offside much to the frustration of the visiting fans.

The second half had to improve as a contest and Rugby had their first shot of the game in the 52nd minute when Luke Keen hit a hard effort from a Wesley ball but despite the keeper fumbling, the chance had gone for Town.

Uxbridge then scored three goals in just over seven madcap minutes after Melvin Gourlay had hit the top of the net with a looping effort.

The first goal for Uxbridge came on 57 minutes when Clarke found space on the edge of the area to unleash a rasping shot into the top left hand corner.

They doubled their lead almost immediately when a defensive error in the area allowed the captain Wayne Carter to blast into the corner leaving Clarke stranded.

This mad period continued when unbelievably Clarke made the game safe when he received an accurate pass from impressive substitute Hussein Warsame on the near side, and Clarke scored his second with a looping shot leaving Rugby’s keeper stretching to keep it out to no avail.

At this point, boss Sockett made a number of substitutions to try and improve Rugby’s game, however only Lee Parsons had a shot at the end which didn’t test Michael Piwonski in the Uxbridge goal.

A thoroughly disappointing evening and Rugby will want to bounce back quickly at home to Ashford on Saturday.

Valley Line-up: Clarke; Moran (Goodbody), Phipps-Hall (Smith), Preston, Gourlay; Steane, Wesley, Connolly, Parsons; Keen, Fagan (Hamilton). Subs not used: Alexander, Masters. Booked: Goodbody. Sent Off: None.

Uxbridge : Piwonski, Brown, Thomas, Farrell, Dennison, Carter, Julienne, Warner, Clark, Moore, Tomkins.