Rugby Town finally returned to winning ways with victory at ten-man Lye Town.

Josh Thomas had given Valley a first half-lead, but the hosts pulled level after the interval, before a Trey Charles brace secured Town a much-needed first win since August on a difficult playing surface.

There was a debut for newly-signed centre-back Tyreace Brown in place of Sidik Atcha - who returned to his parent club Kettering from his loan spell one match early.

Hilton Arthur replaced the injured Mikey Taylor in attack, with Dan Summerfield slotting back into his full-back berth instead of Damien Osoimoejiokhian in the third change from the side that had started the heavy home defeat to Worcester the previous week.

With both sides struggling near the foot of the table, it was an understandably cagey start to the game, although Summerfield did launch one early threatening cross into the area that was well-caught by Lye keeper George Barrett, and then Matt Gardner saw his ambitious free-kick deflect off his own player for a goal-kick.

A Harrison Nee effort was also deflected to enable a relatively easy take for Barrett, with Nee then doing well to win a free-kick in a dangerous position which saw Barrett at full-strength to fingertip Chris Clements's set-piece around the post.

Clements's delivery from the resulting corner was a good one too, and it found the head of Thomas inside the six-yard box and the Town skipper headed home the opening goal.

Arthur then put one high and wide of the target, as the visitors looked to increase their advantage, with another chance following shortly after for Rugby when Caine Elliott played a decent ball through to Nee - whose effort was again well-saved by Barrett. Nee struck another shot over the bar, with Charles another to almost add a second after he had chased down a defender to create an opportunity for himself - only to fail to get the necessary height on his attempted lob over Barrett.

The hosts had struggled to make any real impact on the game in the first half, although Ewan Edwards did have a creditable appeal for a penalty turned down just before the break after Summerfield had challenged him in the box. Lye returned for the new period with increased purpose though, and ex-Valley man Justice Campbell was soon sending a free-kick from distance over the frame.

Alfie Steward and Dan Tozer both saw half-chances go begging for the hosts, before they were finally rewarded for their improvement when Edwards burst down the wing and into the box, before seeing his shot parried by Paul Hathaway into the path of a grateful Gardner to help home the rebound on 51 minutes.

Valley were handed a huge boost around the hour mark though, when Syrus Warren-Paul received his second yellow of the game - both for fouls on Arthur - and the hosts were forced to see out the remainder a man light.

It was not long before Rugby's lead was restored, after Lye full-back Elliott Ball got himself into a real mess in the penalty area before bringing down Nee to allow Charles to fire home the awarded spot-kick into the bottom left-hand corner.

Lye rallied well though despite the double set-back, and nearly took advantage of sloppy play from the visitors on a number of occasions - including a shot dragged wide by the lively Edwards.

Barrett did pull off a decent stop to deny Clements after good play from Charles, but the scares kept coming at the other end too with Hathaway ultimately scooping the ball away from the line after Lye skipper Andy Parsons had beaten him with his swivelled shot - only to see it come back off the post.

With the home legs starting to tire on the boggy pitch, Valley took control for the closing portion of the game though, and Charles flicked a header to Summerfield's cross wide and then Arthur struck the post with a powerful shot after sub Tayo Tucker had slipped him in.

Barrett was off his line quickly to smother Elliott's run through on goal after a neat pass from Charles, with Charles then denied by Barrett in a similar situation after he had also surged through from deep.

The third finally came in stoppage time from another blistering central break by Charles, and this time Town's leading marksman sent his low strike into the bottom corner.

Valley Line-up: Hathaway; Summerfield, Lekuti, Thomas, Brown; Clements, Sahota (Tucker 65'), Elliott; Arthur (Osoimoejiokhian 87'), Nee (Fitzharris 76'), Charles. Subs not used: Mensah, Francis. Booked: Thomas, Sahota, Elliott, Tucker, Fitzharris, Nee.

Lye Line-up: Barrett, Ball, Warren-Paul, Poskitt, Parsons, T. Donaldson, Steward, Tozer, Gardner, Diallo, Edwards. Subs: R. Donaldson, Green, Smith, Campbell, Cartwright.