10-man Rugby consolidated their title bid at Butlin Road, but they had to dig deep for the victory against in-form Egham.
Town put in a measured performance to see off in-form Egham, despite playing the majority of the second half with only ten men.
With the game at 2-1 Greg Kaziboni’s dismissal could easily have thrown Valley off-track, but Dave Stringer’s men dug deep to preserve their lead – before sub Justin Marsden finished off the Surrey side with a third goal.
Kaziboni had given Rugby an early lead, when he was first to react to Jamie Towers’s lofted ball into the box, nodding it home past keeper Jamie Norris – despite the valiant attempts of Luke Muldowney to stop it crossing the line.
The hosts went on to create a number of further half chances, with Nathan Haines driving one over the bar, Norris taking Aaron King’s effort at the second attempt, and a dangerous low Towers cross just cut out by Ryan Lake.
The game was more than half an hour old before the visitors started to probe to any real extent, but when Valley failed to clear an Andrew Crossley corner properly, Mo Harkin was on-hand to strike home the equaliser from close range.
David Kolodynski soon restored the advantage though, when he benefitted from Norris’s misreading of Alex Gudger’s long clearance to help the ball into an empty net.
A speculative long range effort from Egham’s Louis Chandler-Joseph bounced off the top of the crossbar, with Gudger then almost helping home Kolodynski’s corner just ahead of the half-time whistle.
Seb Lake-Gaskin tested Norris with a shot early in the second period, before Kaziboni became the game’s central figure – first somehow lifting the ball over an empty target from point-blank range, then having a further good chance saved by Norris, before catching the keeper with his studs when he appeared to innocently reach for a ball played into the box.
It was therefore no surprise to see referee Neil Davies – who had been somewhat card happy in the game’s opening exchanges – reach for a red one for the Rugby wide-man.
Despite their numerical advantage and a period of pressure, Egham failed to execute a single shot on target for the remainder of the game, with Valley’s resolute defence – well-marshalled by skipper Gudger – holding firm.
In fact it was the home ten that looked more threatening – especially on the break, and they sealed the game with seventeen minutes remaining when Lake-Gaskin’s excellent cross-field ball was taken on by Kolodynski – showing good composure before picking out Marsden, who flicked home from six yards. Late-on, the hardworking Kolodynski also sent a characteristically audacious lobbed effort just over the bar.
Valley
Line-up: Cooper; Myles, Fox, Haines, Gudger; Kaziboni, Towers (Marsden), Blythe, King; Kolodynski, Lake-Gaskin (Bottomer). Subs not used: Reid, Palmer. Booked: Blythe, Fox, Kolodynski. Sent Off: Kaziboni.
Egham line-up: Norris, Muldowney, Lake, Taylor-Ives, Ward, Harkin, Andrews, Thomas, Stanislaus, Chandler-Joseph, Crossley. Subs: Matthew, Galbraith, Busuttil, Quashie, Watts. |