Valley came from behind at local rivals Coventry Sphinx to take a well deserved point in difficult conditions at Sphinx Drive.

The hosts led just after the half-hour mark when Tyler Haddow scored his first Sphinx goal before Rugby's Jamie Melbourne did likewise, equalising a few minutes into the second period.

Carl Adams named an unchanged starting line-up for the short trip following the home victory over Cambridge, but there was a place on the bench for new signing Harrison Nee, with Ryan Sahota, Josh Thomas and Barry Fitzharris all back in the matchday squad after their respective suspension, injury and unavailability.

Town started well and nearly took an early lead in the swirling wind when Sphinx keeper pulled off a decent stop to Madundo Semahimbo's strike after Mikey Taylor had set him up by easily shrugging off Louis Guest.

The hosts were soon creating chances of their own though, and Loyiso Recci did well to thwart Matty Shipman when he appeared to have got in behind the Valley defence, with Haddow firing one over and Jack Downes then dragging the ball the wrong side of the post.

David Kolodynski put in a weak first-time effort which was off the target, before Recci was again Rugby's saviour with an excellent headed clearance to Jac Redhead's free-kick.

Semahimbo's shot from a wide angle failed to trouble Keelan Fallows, and Guest's hapless start to his 300th game for the club continued when he nearly headed a further Semahimbo delivery past his own keeper.

Coventry were the ones to break the deadlock though, when Shipman's cross was met perfectly by the head of Haddow and he steered the ball past a rooted Paul Hathaway.

Town almost levelled things up straight away, but Taylor could only glance a Clements free-kick wide, with a further opportunity coming soon after when Silvano Obeng's centre caused hesitancy in the Sphinx box.

Devonn O'Sullivan put one over the bar as Rugby's encouraging spell continued, and then the young midfielder turned provider by almost playing in Taylor - only for Fallows to rescue the situation for the hosts by blocking him out.

Redhead curled a free-kick over ahead of the interval, but Valley got their deserved reward three minutes after the restart when Semahimbo laid the ball back to Melbourne to cut inside and float in a right-footed cross-shot, which was misjudged by Fallows in the wind and nestled into the roof of the net.

A wayward Taylor shot and a glancing header from Shipman failed to trouble either keeper, before Taylor was denied by a neat sliding tackle from Joe Pursey after O'Sullivan had whipped in a dangerous cross.

Clements lifted a free-kick over the frame after Semahimbo's threatening run had been halted illegally, before the home side missed out on a great chance to regain the lead when Shipman missed the ball with his diving header to Finley Shorrock's cross.

Town were reduced to ten men on 65 minutes though, when Liam Francis picked up his second booking of the afternoon when he clipped the heels of Shipman but despite another numerical disadvantage situation for them, the visitors once more acquitted themselves well for the remainder of the match.

Kolodynski's deep free-kick was just beyond the reach of Taylor and a Dan Summerfield delivery into the box was ably gathered by Fallows, and whilst the hosts were arguably enjoying more possession than they had earlier in the half - they rarely looked like penetrating a solid Town defence.

The best opportunity of the closing stages fell to Taylor, but having once more muscled his way past the Coventry defence, he could only screw his effort agonisingly wide of the target.

Coventry sub Ashton DeMulder lifted one way over, with Melbourne then causing more problems at the other end with a teasing centre - which was cleared away by Shorrock.

The final chance of the game fell to Sphinx, but following a scramble in Town's box, an excellent challenge from Summerfield by the upright ensured the points remained shared.

Valley Line-up: Hathaway; Summerfield, Melbourne, Francis, Recci; O'Sullivan, Clements (Thomas), Kolodynski, Semahimbo; Obeng (Sahota), Taylor. Subs not used: Lee, Nee, Fitzharris. Bookings: Recci, Francis. Sent off: Francis.

Sphinx Line-up: Fellows, Pursey, Shorrock, J.Downes, Edjenguele, Guest, Wood, Lock, Shipman, Redhead, Haddow. Subs: L.Downes, DeMulder, Bryson, Whiteside, Castellano.