Rugby Town secured their Northern Premier League status in style on the final day with victory at Boldmere St Michaels..
Valley had gone into the game level on points with the team immediately below them Rushden, but with a two goal better differential and also a higher scoring tally, Rugby knew that victory at the Church Road stadium would probably be enough to keep them out of the end of season relegation zone.
Carl Adams stuck with the same line-up that had cantered past Walsall Wood seven days earlier, with the bench also unchanged from that 4-0 home success.
It was an understandably cagey start from the visitors, although they did create the first opportunity of the game when Theo Rowe's run from deep ended with a cross that was just beyond his team-mates in the box.
Nerves were settled a little on fourteen minutes with Loyiso Recci stroking home his fourth penalty in as many games, after Kieran Boucher had upended Mikey Taylor as the striker attempted to round the home keeper following his neat turn and run from Dan Summerfield's searching pass.
Daniel Gyasi sent a free-kick over the bar as the hosts looked for a quick response, but it was Town that edged the remainder of the first period - going close to adding their lead on several occasions in the process.
Recci just failed to divert a Chris Clements' corner at the target, and Madundo Semahimbo's shot on the turn was then blocked away, before a great chance fell to Taylor from a hooked cross by David Kolodynski, but the 36-year-old striker headed agonisingly wide.
Owen Parry did lift one wide of Paul Hathaway's goal after he had sneaked in behind the Town defence, but Valley ended the half strongly with Taylor just unable to get a shot off after Ayo Lekuti had squared him the ball and then Boucher clearly handled Semahimbo's through-pass outside of the box - but alas this was not spotted by the match officials.
Boldmere started well after the restart though, and with Rushden also ahead in their match at Walsall, Town knew that one slip-up would see them fall into the drop zone.
Parry put another effort over the bar early in the second-half proceedings, as the Mikes launched their best spell of the match.
Recci was then called into crucial defensive action three times in close succession, with two important goalmouth clearances and an effective block to Ben Usher-Shipway's strike from twenty yards.
Lekuti did head Silvano Obeng's deep cross at Boucher in a brief moment of respite at the other end, before the hosts missed probably their best chance of the game when full-back Adrian Owinedu-Oyamera steered the ball wide after he had surged purposefully into Rugby's box.
Usher-Shipway then just failed to capitalise on Summerfield's short header back to Hathaway, before Town finally regained some form of a foothold on the game.
A trademark powerful run from the halfway line from Taylor nearly saw them grab a second, but this time as he attempted to round Boucher in the penalty area, the Boldmere keeper stuck a boot out to deny him with a tackle.
The vital win was all but secured in the 84th minute though, when Obeng fed Rowe on the left, and the winger deftly cut inside and curled home past Boucher into the corner of the net to the joy and delight of the large contingent of travelling Valley fans.
A Clements' effort drifted wide of the post shortly after, but any lingering doubts were extinguished in stoppage time when Ryan Sahota fired one low off the base of the upright and across the line - after Clements had laid him up from a quick free-kick.
With Rushden only able to secure a 2-0 victory elsewhere, the exciting finale to Rugby's challenging return back to Step Four of the non-league pyramid ended positively for them and thoughts immediately turned to the planning for the next campaign.
