Rugby Town's pre-season schedule began in earnest with a draw at Cogenhoe United in James Jepson's first game in charge.

It was a repeat of last season's scoreline against the UCL Premier side who finished fifth in the level below Rugby in the pyramid.

Valley's completely refreshed line-up featured no players from last season as Tom Ryan and David Kolodynski were unavailable but there were a number of welcome familiar faces including Sam Belcher and Nathan Fox.

Despite the unfamiliarity Valley dominated the opening period and took an early lead as winger Louis Hamilton cut in from the right to take advantage of some hesistant defending to smash home into the net.

Striker Aron Wint, who spent last pre-season with Valley before joining Bedworth, made a couple of encouraging breaks clear but lacked a finish while Belcher fired a rising shot over the bar as the hosts rarely threatened in the opening period

The second period saw the inevitable pre-season substitutions for both sides and it was Cogenhoe who adapted better to this and had much the better of the second half.

An easy header was missed by the Cogenhoe striker and the post was struck from outside the area before Ryan Ansell equalised from close range after seeing his inital shot well saved by second half goalkeeper George Woodward.

Valley struggled to make much of an impact in the second half which saw an appearance for manager James Jepson from the bench and youth team graduate Dominic Bolton.

Valley Line-up: Parkes; Print, Fox, Appleton, Pheasant; Gooding, Lavery, Belcher; Green, Hamilton, Wint. Subs used: Woodward (gk), Lee, Cotton, Lower, Busaka, Bolton, Jepson, Trialists.