Valley came from behind to earn a superb and well-deserved point at League Champions Quorn.
On a sunny and blowy afternoon at Farley Way when Quorn were being presented with their Championship trophy, Rugby put in an excellent second half display to claim a crucial draw through Ayo Lekuti's terrific strike.
There was a first start for young striker Lucas Stanley following his goal on debut from the bench at home to Long Eaton the week previously, with Jiah Medrano and Chris Clements also both in from the off against a side that going into the game had only dropped 13 points all season - registering 98 goals in the process.
With a gusty crosswind in their favour, the hosts made a predictably strong start, and Rodrigo Goncalves was soon forcing his way to the left by-line to put in a dangerous cross which was well blocked away by Josh Thomas.
Thomas repeated the process from a similar delivery by the same Quorn winger shortly after, with his central defensive partner Tyreace Brown then getting in the way of Zak Goodson's strike as the home side's promising opening continued.
Valley keeper Paul Hathaway pulled off a fine point blank save to deny Goncalves's tight-angled strike, but Town's respite was short-lived with Quorn player-manager Ryan Beswick then glancing in a wind-assisted corner on thirteen minutes for the inevitable opening goal.
Goncalves then guided a good chance wide after he had ghosted in on the left-hand channel, with Hathaway also saving a further shot from Goncalves shortly after.
Rugby's only real shot on goal came on twenty-two minutes when Harrison Nee tested Tom Allsop with a decent strike after he had launched a dynamic run following Medrano's pass to him, but the Quorn keeper managed to tip his well-struck effort over the bar.
The divisional champions pressed hard for a second ahead of the interval, with Goodson hitting the side netting with a shot and then he screwed one wide from a near identical position.
Hathaway also parried away Quorn skipper Reece Fyle's strike before the players retreated for the half-time break, but it was a different game after the restart with Rugby now looking to benefit from the windy conditions.
Town boss Ian King had made a triple substitution for the new period with Trey Charles, Caine Elliott and Lekuti entering the fray, and Charles was soon in the game when running onto Kartell Dawkins's long pass, before his attempt to round Allsopp looked like it was curtailed by a tug on his arm from the home keeper.
Charles was unable to regain full control of the ball as a result, and the danger was therefore averted.
Town's pressure continued though, and both Finn Flanagan and Elliott were just unable to make proper contact with their volleyed attempts from the edge of the box in quick succession, with Flanagan also having a well-struck effort blocked by his own player Charles on its way to the goal.
If the visitors thought they were hard done by the inability of the match officials to spot the earlier tug in the penalty area, they were left even more flummoxed on 59 minutes when Charles once more used his pace well to get onto Jasper Tetlow's weak header back to Allsopp following Brown's long clearance.
This time Charles did manage to get past Allsopp - only to see the keeper clearly grab and hold onto his leg to stop Town's top scorer helping the ball into the empty net.
However, somehow both the referee and his perfectly-placed assistant failed to spot the clear infringement and the game continued.
Flanagan then probably should have done better when Allsopp's poor kick out fell nicely to him, but he failed to get any elevation to his effort, but Valley continued to create chances, with Charles's overhead strike bouncing wide and Lekuti then chipping one into Allsopp's hands.
The deserved equaliser came on 79 minutes after Flanagan had done well to regain possession in midfield before feeding Lekuti who jinked himself into space on the edge of the box before firing home past Allsopp.
Town then almost scrambled one home from an Elliott free-kick, before Quorn stepped things up with a number of threatening balls into the box which the Rugby defence stood up to steadfastly, before Dawkins had a strike blocked late in the game.
Valley Line-up: Hathaway; Ronald (Lekuti 46'), Medrano (Paratore 83'), Thomas, Brown; Dawkins, Edwards, Flanagan, Clements (Elliott 46'); Stanley (Charles 46'), Nee. Subs not used: Francis. Booked: Brown, Charles.
Trey Charles thought he was about to tap into an empty net before Quorn goalkeeper Tom Alsopp had other ideas - unfortunately for Valley he got away with it!
