Rugby rounded off their perfect Easter weekend by completing the double over the division’s champions in front of a bumper Butlin Road crowd.

Visitors Kettering had gone into the game needing just a point to secure the title and automatic promotion, but despite defeat did so anyway thanks to results elsewhere in the league – whilst Valley were boosting their own prospects of a return to the Premier Division.

Goals from Richard Gregory, Justin Marsden and Lewis Rankin put a slight dampener on the Poppies’ ultimate celebrations, as the hosts put in a team performance to match the equally bright Monday afternoon sunshine.

Valley boss Dave Stringer made two changes from the victory over Northwood two days previously, preferring Marsden and the returning Robbie Burns to Seb Lake-Gaskin and Fazel Koriya, but it was the Poppies that probably edged the opening tight exchanges.

Gary Mulligan headed one at Neil Collett and Elliot Sandy volleyed over in front of the vocal, large Kettering contingent, but Town started to find their feet too and they broke the deadlock on 28 minutes when Richard Gregory shrugged off Brett Solkhon, before rounding keeper Richard Knight and easing home from an ever tightening angle for his twelfth goal in thirteen league starts.

Another powerful effort by Sandy was deflected over for a corner, with Rugby then creating the next best chance of the half when Knight’s excellent one-handed save to Marsden’s strike kept the margin at one goal.

Sam Youngs also had a couple of shots blocked out in the box, with Will Grocott lucky to escape with just a yellow card for a reckless tackle ahead of the interval.

Predictably the visitors came out for the restart in determined fashion and for the opening ten minutes pinned Rugby back into their own half for long periods.

However aside from a loud appeal for a penalty when Mason Rowley tackled the largely ineffectual returnee David Kolodynski, Kettering had little to show for their territorial dominance and Rugby then applied the perfect sucker punch when Marsden made it two on 56 minutes with a low, measured finish from the edge of the box, after Knight had initially rushed out from his area to deal with another long Valley clearance with his head.

The home side looked reasonably comfortable from this point on, and Burns and Gregory both put in off-target attempts, before Tommy Hull spurned Kettering’s clearest opportunity of the game when he somehow lifted the ball over the bar from a couple of yards out after his skipper Steve Kinniburgh had picked him out with a whipped cross.

Substitute Rankin completed the scoring after Marsden once more had got the better of Solkhon on the left hand touchline, before rushing into the box and squaring to Rankin who fired high into the net.

Richard Blythe nearly added a fourth before the end, after he jinked into the box, but he was crowded out before he could get a proper shot off.

After the full-time whistle, the 800 or so Kettering fans received the news that their nearest rivals Aylesbury had only drawn their game, sparking joyous scenes on the pitch in front of the main stand.

Valley Line-up: Collett; George, Kelly, Rowley, Austin; Burns, Blythe, Grocott, Youngs; Marsden (Piggon), Gregory (Rankin). Subs not used: Lake-Gaskin, Koriya. Booked: Grocott.

Kettering line-up: Knight, Clifton, Kinniburgh, Mulligan, Solkhon, Lee, Hall, Hull, Kolodynski, Sandy, Gooding. Subs: Ogbonna, Robinson, Jepson, Moreman, McAlindon.