Rugby Town returned to winning ways with a derby win over 10-man Coventry Sphinx at a soaking Sphinx Drive.

A Ruben Wiggins-Thomas strike and a Stuart Hendrie double secured Town’s victory against a Coventry side who were reduced to ten men before the end of a well-contested game that went ahead with a delayed kick-off after the sodden surface was finally deemed playable.

Rugby boss Dave Stringer made four changes to his starting line-up from the midweek defeat at Shawbury, with Conor Wright and Sean Castleton brought into the back-line and Harry Holloway and John Mills into the midfield against a Sphinx side containing three players who featured for Town last season – Aaron Stringfellow, Chris Sterling and Charlie Faulkner.

From the off the visitors adapted better in the testing conditions and Wiggins-Thomas had one cleared off the line in the opening minutes after good play by David Kolodynski.

Wiggins-Thomas did manage to score though on sixteen minutes when he tucked away a low shot after Hendrie’s delivery across the goal had only been parried by Jack Tregartha Sphinx responded well to the setback, and Niall Cooper pulled off a decent save to a powerful strike by Sphinx’s Aaron Donaldson, with Cooper soon again called into action in tipping Faulkner’s effort around the post after Castleton had been caught in possession.

The hosts continue to probe for an equaliser, with James Dance clearing Sterling’s shot from his own goal-line after Callum Woodward had picked out the Coventry striker.

However the last chance of the opening period fell to the visitors, when Rugby broke quickly to outnumber the Sphinx defence – only for Wiggins-Thomas to make a mess of the opportunity with a wayward final effort.

Coventry started the new half brightly, with Cooper again denying Donaldson and Louis Guest heading one just wide of the target.

Hendrie’s cross then nearly caught out Tregartha in the wind, but the keeper recovered to save, before Cooper was again showing good reflexes to keep out another goal-bound strike from Faulkner.

Valley continued to threaten at the other end, with Wiggins-Thomas steering one agonisingly wide after neat interchange play between Holloway and Kolodynski on the right hand side of the penalty area.

The dismissal of Sphinx’s Woodward on 78 minutes following an altercation with Kolodynski on the touchline provided Town with the opportunity to finish the game off though, and soon after Holloway was winning possession in his own half to feed Wiggins-Thomas - who in turn released Hendrie in space and he ran through to score his first goal for the club with ease.

Hendrie took advantage of the now-open Sphinx defence with Valley’s third on 89 minutes by finishing off, after the home team had failed to clear Wiggins-Thomas’s initial strike.

There was still time for a consolation for Coventry when Ben Cranage found the net with an impressive dipping shot past Cooper from thirty yards.

Valley Line-up: Cooper; Print, Wright, Dance, Castleton; Holloway, Mills; Hendrie, Ruff (Belcher), Kolodynski; Wiggins-Thomas. Subs not used: Rowley. Booked: Kolodynski, Ruff, Cooper.

Coventry Sphinx line-up: Tregartha, Lower, Stringfellow, Cairns, Stowe, Guest, Donaldson, Woodward, Sterling, Downes, Faulkner. Subs: Cranage, Bonkar, Quirke, Harkin, Bull.