Valley secured a vital three points with a comfortable win on the 3G astroturf at Coles Lane.

David Kolodynski scrambled one in to give Rugby the lead just before the end of a scrappy opening period, with Ryan Quinn then settling any nerves with his first strike for the club on the hour mark. Kolodynski’s second five minutes before the end of normal time rounded off a successful afternoon for his side.

Town made four changes from the previous weekend’s narrow defeat at home to league leaders Shaw Lane, with Aiden Print, Anthony Charles, Chris Sterling and new signing Robbie Parsons replacing the injured/unavailable quartet of Kyle Rowley, Warren Brooks, Guy Clark and Charlie Faulkner.

Debutant Parsons squandered a great opportunity to mark his competitive bow for the club with an early goal when he shot into the side netting after Kolodynski had released him, with Levi Rowley striking the defensive wall with a free-kick against his old club and Mason Rowley also heading Trey Brathwaite’s free-kick straight at Romulus keeper Leighton Smith in the opening thirty minutes.

The breakthrough came from another Brathwaite set-piece after Kolodynski had shown quick feet out wide to draw a foul, with Sterling nodding the delivery back across the face of the goal and Kolodynski bundling it over the line with his head.

The hosts had offered little in the first half and this pattern of play repeated itself after the break, with Rugby looking by far the most assured outfit, although Jordan Masidi did force a corner when his shot from the edge of the box was deflected off-target.

Quinn doubled Valley’s advantage when he powered onto Kolodynski’s neatly weighted lay-off to rifle a low shot into the corner of the net, and aside from a chance for substitute Liam Hailey which keeper Louis Connor did well to speed from his line and block away, the home side rarely troubled the Town back-line in the final half an hour.

Brathwaite drifted a free-kick well over and Tevin Shakespeare also sent a couple of efforts harmlessly wide of the frame, before Kolodynski stretched the margin of victory to three when he chased down Mason Rowley’s long punted clearance to beat off a couple of Roms’ defenders and lift the ball over the oncoming Smith.

Valley Line-up: Connor; Print, Brathwaite, M Rowley, Charles; L Rowley, Thomson (Moses-Garvey), Quinn (Fura); Parsons (Shakespeare), Sterling, Kolodynski. Subs not used: Hadland, Punter. Booked: Print.

Romulus line-up: Smith, Evans, Branch, Burke, Hill, Donnelly, Francis, Masidi, Welsh, Rutty-Smith, Jackson. Subs: Walters, Sweeney, Hailey, Graham, Deakin.