Valley’s mini-revival was halted at Butlin Road last Saturday, when they were edged out by an in-form Sheffield side.

Gary Moran’s men had dragged themselves back from a two goal deficit against the South Yorkshire visitors, only to see Alec Denton strike a 72nd minute winner.

Town made one enforced change from the game eleven days previously against Leek, with new signing Lewis Hudson replacing the departed Kyle Rowley at full-back, and they opened the game in positive fashion creating a number of decent chances in the opening ten minutes.

Joe Halsall headed one just over the target, Aaron Moses-Garvey’s drilled effort from an acute angle was pushed away by the legs of Sheffield keeper Christopher Butt and Chris Sterling also tested Butt from distance.

However it was the visitors that took the lead on fourteen minutes when James Gregory threaded a ball in behind the Rugby defence which Connor Hall ran onto to fire home a good finish past Dan Jezeph.

David Kolodynski saw his speculative effort tipped over and Darren Campbell headed a Moses-Garvey free-kick too high, before Sheffield extended their lead through Alec Denton – with the forward given too much time and space on the edge of the box before striking one into the bottom corner.

The dangerous strike pairing of Hall and Denton both threatened to add to their tallies in the approach to half-time, but instead it was Valley who snatched a lifeline after Damian Magee was adjudged to have tripped Kolodynski in the box, allowing Moses-Garvey to duly smash in his penalty down the middle.

Three minutes after the restart Rugby were level, with Moran’s deep cross met at the far post by Kolodynski, and his header squeezed past Butt.

The equaliser sparked the visitors into life once more though, with Hall putting one wide and Patrick Lindley somehow lifting the ball over from close range.

The winning goal came when Hall played in Denton down the left hand channel, and the striker applied another decent low finish past Jezeph.

Town did rally well themselves in the closing stages, and Moses-Garvey guided one over from just inside the penalty area from Kolodynski’s lay back, with substitute Charlie Faulkner then almost rescuing a point in the dying seconds when his contact to Chris Sterling’s cross agonisingly bounced down off the bar onto the goal-line, before being cleared to safety.

Valley Line-up: Jezeph; Moran, Hudson, M Rowley, Punter; Sterling, Moses-Garvey, Hadland (Faulkner), Halsall; Campbell (Thomson), Kolodynski. Subs not used: Holloway, Palmer, Charles. Booked: Moses-Garvey, Halsall.

Sheffield line-up: Butt, Turner, Rose, Lindley, Cooksey, Magee, Roney, Finlaw, Hall, Denton, Gregory. Subs: Johnson, Royles, Goodwin, Hamid, Treasure.