Town made it two wins in three days over Christmas with a spirited performance against the Nottingham-based opponents at Butlin Road on Bank Holiday Monday.
Kevin Thornton’s 38th minute penalty separated the two sides come the end, and despite a late flurry of pressure from Basford, overall Valley were good value for the victory.
Aside from an early teasing cross/shot by United’s Blair Anderson which drifted just over the crossbar, an unchanged Rugby went on to have the majority of the first half play and created a number of decent openings ahead of Thornton’s ultimate game decider.
Kurtis Revan got the better of his marker a number of times down the right wing, but was unable to generate a telling end product from this – although he did force Jake Wood into one good save with a shot he fired across the face of the goal.
Tom Ryan headed one into Wood’s arms and Callum Powell saw his shot blocked after he had cut in from the left, with Thornton then missing a great opportunity to open the scoring after Wood had miscued a clearance to his feet to leave the in-form Irishman free on goal.
However Wood redeemed himself by thwarting Thornton’s attempt to round him.
Shortly after this miss, Revan then blazed one wide when a pull-back was potentially a better option, as Rugby broke quickly with a man to spare.
For Basford, Ashley Grayson dragged his effort wide and Reuben Wiggins-Thomas had a goal ruled out for offside, before the award of the match winning penalty came when Rob Darkin made contact with Kolodynski's back after tight play by Powell and Thornton had carved out an opening in the box.
Thornton stepped up to make no mistake from the spot to register his sixth successful penalty out of six so far this season.
The goal did spark the visitors briefly into life though, and Wiggins-Thomas had an effort blocked by Ryan, whilst Darkin headed straight at Sam Andrew.
However the final chances of the first half fell to Town, with Wood pulling out a particularly impressive double save to deny first Powell’s and then Thornton’s stinging strikes.
The second period was a less eventful and generally scrappier affair, with Rugby digging in doggedly to protect their slender advantage.
Stuart Hendrie went closest for the visitors with two back-to-back off-target efforts, with Andrew also doing well to tip away a dangerous Blair Anderson corner.
Meanwhile at the other end Powell had a curled shot saved by Wood and Kolodynski put a free-kick from a dangerous position way over the bar.
Valley
Line-up: Andrew; Curley, Warburton, Tullin, Ryan; Parker, Towers; Revan (Healy), Powell (Smith), Thornton (Esso); Kolodynski. Subs not used: Rowley, Opoku. Booked: Revan.
Basford line-up: Wood, McNicholas, Bennett, Smith, Myers, Darkin, Hendrie, Grayson, Wiggins-Thomas, Dixon, Anderson. Subs: Duffy, Harrison, Grantham, Wood, Pickbourne.
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