It was an afternoon to forget for Valley last Saturday, after they slumped to defeat in Hertfordshire thanks to two second half goals from the hosts’ Josh Hutchinson.
Another Richard Gregory strike had given Rugby a half-time lead, although a generally lacklustre display from Dave Stringer’s men mean they can have few complaints about the final outcome.
Town were unchanged from the previous weekend’s victory over Chalfont, but it was the home side that made the brighter start with Joshua Oyinsan seeing his shot go wide after good work from Ben Bowditch.
The roles were reversed just minutes later, when Oyinsan produced a good ball to Bowditch, who with a one-on-one against Richard Morris then dipped his shot wide.
Valley's first real chance came in the sixteenth minute, when Gregory hit a superb volley twenty yards out, but Ben Goode produced a cracking save to divert the ball past the post The visitors were now beginning to get into the game a little more, and Richie Burns saw his effort go high over the bar after good trickery from Craig Kelly.
Town took the lead in the 38th minute after a decent pacey run from Seb Lake-Gaskin down the wing ended with him producing a perfectly weighted cross into the area - leaving Gregory the relatively straightforward task of tapping home from close range.
In the run-up to half-time Rugby could have increased their advantage, when Lake-Gaskin almost played in Richard Blythe, and Sam Youngs nearly did the same for Gregory – with Justin Marsden also having an effort blocked on the line.
However Valley failed to test Potters’ keeper Goode again throughout the entire second period, and after suffering the blow of losing skipper Alex Gudger from the centre of their defence through injury ten minutes after the restart, the hosts were soon deservedly level when Hutchinson capitalised on a disorganised defence to squeeze the ball past Richard Morris.
The hosts were now clearly on top, with Bowditch putting in a stinging shot which Morris managed to clip wide of the post. Joe Bennett’s goal-bound shot was deflected just wide off his own team mate, before Hutchinson scored again with just six minutes of normal time remaining when he fired high into the Rugby net after Bennett’s ball into the box.
Valley
Line-up: Morris; Grocott, Kelly, Rowley, Gudger (George); Blythe, Burns; Marsden (Koriya), Youngs, Lake-Gaskin; Gregory (Rankin). Subs not used: Bishop. Booked: None.
Potters Bar line-up: Goode, Rispoli, Doyle, Sullivan, Bowditch, Bennett, Cleland, Hutchinson, Oyinson, Hatherly. Subs: Walsh, Brown, Bello-Balogun, Wooldridge. |