Rugby Town marked their NPL Midlands return with a narrow victory over Sutton Coldfield Town after a six year absence.

David Kolodynski's first-half stoppage-time header separated the two sides, with the hosts playing out the final third of the game with ten men following Roger Lee's dismissal.

Boss Carl Adams made two changes from the previous outing in the FA Cup at Malvern, with Alex Lock and Liam Francis in the starting line-up in place of Tom Fielding and Luke English.

The visitors settled first in the swirling wind at Butlin Road, with the first chance of the game seeing Cameron Collins fail to connect properly to a Rhys Hilton delivery from out wide.

Kolodynski's first-time effort to Matt Hill's long upfield clearance was pushed away by Sutton keeper Jonathan Brown to give the home fans some early hope, although the bulk of the play was at the other end with Hill and his back-line tested on a number of occasions by the direct tactics of the opposition.

A Collins' header was comfortably gathered by Hill, before Josh Thomas headed Karabo Motshweni's corner towards goal but saw it cleared away by a Royals' defender.

Jordan Wilson's deflected strike was also an easy take for the keeper after Town had strung together a number of passes, but at the other end Hilton continued to pose a continual threat and in one attacking play, he had successive on-target shots blocked by Francis and Lock respectively.

Rugby then had the ball in the net as the interval approached, when Wilson headed in Kolodynski's lofted cross to the back post, but the goal was chalked off for a push.

However, Valley did manage to establish a half-time lead when Kolodynski squeezed in between a couple of Sutton defenders to flick home another dangerous corner from Motshweni in the third minute of added-time.

There was still time for Town to almost add a second before half-time, with Dan Summerfield bombing on down the wing to receive the ball back from Wilson ahead of the onrushing Brown, before sending in a cross which Pedro Lima just managed to intercept with Kolodynski poised to add to his tally.

The two sides traded half-chances soon after the restart, with away sub Alex McSkeane putting one way over from a tight angle and then Motshweni lifting his free-kick over the bar too.

Lock then denied Jack Burgess as the hosts threatened on a quick counter-attack, before the match took on a new dynamic when Lee received a straight red-card for appearing to kick-out at Ceesay Dampha whilst the Rugby midfielder was down on the ground having been fouled himself.

It was pretty much backs-to-the-wall stuff from Town from thereon, but despite the away side enjoying the bulk of the possession, Rugby's defence coped ably with the barrage and clear-cut chances for the Royals were limited.

Hilton cut-in from the right before shooting at Hill though, with Ryan Edmunds also putting one straight at the keeper.

The visitors' best opportunity came from another surge down the right by Hilton - before his deflected shot looped up to the back post, with James Bowen ballooning the loose ball way over.

Ten-man Rugby did go close themselves though, when Rico Taylor picked out Kolodynski on the edge of the box, who in turn found Ryan Sahota, but he could only drag his effort across the face of the goal.

Generally Coldfield lacked a cutting edge in the game's concluding action, and when they did manage to get a shot off, they usually found the body of a Rugby defender with a sturdy block.

Hill was also in steadfast form in keeping out Isa Abraham's strike, with the final attempt of the match - extended by nine extra second-half minutes - seeing Harry Sawyer find the side netting with his effort.

Valley Line-up: Hill; Rosser, Recci, Francis (Taylor); Thomas, Summerfield, Lee, Lock (Sahota), Motshweni; Kolodynski, Wilson (Kear). Subs not used: English, Ahenkorah. Bookings: Wilson, Recci. Sent off: Lee.

Sutton Coldfield Line-up: Brown, Sawyer, Bowen, Lima, Christophorou, Burgess, Dampha, Collins, Brown, Hilton, Edmunds. Subs: Fitzgerald, McSkeane, Byrne, Todd, Abraham.