Rugby Town's woes continued as AFC Rushden & Diamonds' play-off ambitions were boosted by a comfortable Butlin Road victory.
This latest setback extended Valley's run without a league win to seven games, as they face a third consecutive relegation threatened season following their 2023 return to Step Four of the pyramid.
With Josh Thomas unavailable, stop-gap replacement Essa Janneh was drafted in to cover for him at centre-back.
Jack Concannon started his first game in midfield following his recent hamstring injury, with Geoffrey Lundoloki and another new signing George Ball preferred to Nathan Kabeya and Trey Charles.
Town started well and were responsible for all the openings created in the first ten minutes. Concannon played in Lundoloki down the left, but the full-back was unable to get his cross in, and then Concannon again slipped the ball onto Janneh in the box, but the lanky defender's shot was blocked away.
Sam Tye's lofted pass saw Jamal Adams brush off his marker, before firing in a low shot which brought a decent one-handed save from one-time Rugby keeper Dan Jezeph, with Caine Elliott also sending a volley way over the bar. Therefore, it was against the run of play when the visitors took an eleventh-minute lead when skipper Joel Nketia timed his run well to flick home Bruno Andrade's free-kick with his head.
Rivel Mardenborough poked one wide from Ryley Nicholson's long throw into the box, before another Andrade set-piece delivery was met by the head of Aidan Webster at the back-post, but this time Charlie Woods was down well to push the ball around the post.
Woods was soon back in the action again when scooping away a Sam Brown cross, and then was up on his feet to catch the follow-up effort from Ollie Evans.
Tyler Winters' overhead kick from close range cleared the bar after David Adegbola's long-throw had bounced it way through to him, before the Rushden striker did hit the target with a low shot on the turn which deflected in through the legs of Nicholson for Diamonds' second goal of the first-half on 37 minutes.
Andrade curled a free-kick wide shortly after the break, before Adams failed to get full power on his strike to a Mardenborough cross at the other end.
Hopes of a much-needed Town comeback all but vanished on 53 minutes though, after half-time sub Kabeya was dispossessed in the box by Adegbola, and he laid the ball across to Winters to apply another low finish into the bottom corner.
However, Rugby did continue to valiantly press forward for a goal following this hammer blow, with Nicholson lifting over Adams's cross from the left, and then Concannon having a shot blocked and Ball putting one off target from the same passage of play.
Woods pushed away Evans's powerful strike as the visitors looked for a fourth, before Elliott's threaded pass played in Adams, but he delayed getting his shot off initially and was ultimately denied by Jezeph.
Kabeya sent one way over the bar after neat interchange play with fellow replacement Kobi Bivens, but all too often despite their attacking intent, Town were crowded out in and around the Diamonds' box.
Charles's deep cross did provide an opportunity at the back-post for Elliott, but his scuffed effort was saved by Jezeph, and Janneh headed wide the resulting corner from Teddy Rowe, with Charles also firing one off-target following a great cross-field pass from Archie Murray.
Rowe's low strike was then parried away by Jezeph out to Charles - whose attempted delivery back into Rowe saw John-Joe O'Toole bring down the midfielder to give Valley the chance of an added-time consolation.
However, for the second game running, Town missed out from the spot with Jezeph down well to his right to save Bivens's penalty.
