Ten man Valley started their competitive season with a hard fought for Emirates FA Cup victory over their soon-to-be new league rivals.

A bumper crowd appearing to be in excess of 500 were at Coventry’s new home of the Barker Butts Stadium to see a goal in each half by David Kolodynski earn Town a home tie in the next round against Romulus, with Rugby forced to play more than seventy minutes of the game shorthanded following the dismissal of midfielder Josh Thornton.

Thornton was one of five men in the starting line-up making their Town debuts, with James Dance, Jamie Hall, Ruben Wiggins-Thomas and Liam Holt also on from the off against a United side containing a number of ex-Butlin Roaders – including Mitchell Piggon and Lewis Rankin.

The first real chance of the game fell to the hosts with ex-Coventry City striker Craig Reid stabbing the ball wide, but Valley were soon taking the lead when Kolodynski converted from close range after Holt’s free-kick from the left was helped on to him courtesy of touches from both Kyle and Mason Rowley.

Thornton’s red card for a two-footed challenge near the halfway line then reduced the visitors to ten, but they responded well to this setback with Harry Holloway sending one just wide from twenty yards and United keeper Richard Morris saving a Wiggins-Thomas shot at his near post.

Coventry put in arguably their best spell of the game in the run-up to half-time though, and Rankin’s deflected strike from the edge of the area was tipped onto the post by Niall Cooper, whilst Piggon twice put efforts wide of the target from decent positions following corners.

Reid again threatened shortly after the restart by forcing Cooper to parry his well-struck shot, but once more it was a nicely delivered set-piece from Holt on 61 minutes that unlocked the United defence giving Kolodynski the opportunity to execute a sweet volley past Morris.

Rugby coped with reasonably well with the inevitable subsequent pressure from the home side, although Cooper twice did well to deny Chris Cox and another ex-Town man Aron Wint also smashed over from an angled position.

However the best chance of this passage of play fell to Valley, when Kolodynski squandered an opportunity for a hat-trick when he twice failed to convert after Wiggins-Thomas had put him clean through on goal.

Cox finally did reduce the deficit with six minutes of normal time remaining by rounding Cooper to score after Reid had done well to play him in to set up a tense finale to the tie.

The same player then almost snatched a last-gasp equaliser with a header that flew just the wrong side of the top corner of the frame.

Valley Line-up: Cooper; K Rowley, Hall, M Rowley, Harris; Holt, Thornton, Holloway; Dance (Ashby), Wiggins-Thomas (Ruff), Kolodynski (Birch). Subs not used: Print, Castleton. Booked: Holt, Dance. Sent Off: Thornton.

Coventry line-up: Morris, Jones, Hudson, Cox, Coleman, Barnett, Glasscoe, Wint, Reid, PIggon, Rankin. Subs: Woodward, Malhotra, Prinzel, Quinn, Mussa, Vallance.