Rugby Town all set for final two friendlies

Having enjoyed wins in their opening friendlies at FC Stratford and Romulus, Town put in a creditable performance in a 2-0 loss to Southern League Premier Redditch United last Saturday.

Valley bounced straight back from this with a resounding success against further high level opposition on Tuesday evening though, when they ultimately hammered Gresley 5-1 at the Moat Ground.

Saturday's defeat was harsh on a Rugby side that fell behind to Ryan Nesbitt's 17th minute opener at a sweltering Butlin Road.

United keeper Kieran Boucher denied Josh Thomas’ attempt at an equaliser shortly after, and then David Kolodynski missed out on two good opportunities after the break – the second of which crashed back down off the crossbar, before Dylan Hart headed one home late on to finish things off.

Tuesday's affair was played in even hotter conditions and, after a relatively uneventful first period, the game came to life in the second half.

Ryan Seal scored twice and there were further goals from Madundo Semahimbo, Kolodynski and Caine Elliott to help the visitors coast to victory.

Town's United Counties League Premier Division South campaign kicks off next weekend (July 30) with a home outing against Cogenhoe United, with the club relaunching their Family Concession Ticket, which enables free admission for two juniors aged under 16 with a paying adult via a special voucher which can be ordered via the links on the club's website.

Valley confirmed the arrival of two players from Hinckley AFC over the past week with the highly-rated centre-half Ben Whitehead taking the number of contracted players at Town now to 14 while Drew Kear has also signed registration forms for the club.

Whitehead is likely to miss the opening games of the season though, as he recovers from a minor operation he had in the summer. Both new signings previously spent time at the once Rugby-based Strachan Football Foundation.