VALLEY boss Carl Adams says the decision to put loyalties aside in favour of new faces paid dividends in Rugby’s 6-1 thrashing of Wellingborough Town.
Jazz Luckie’s hat-trick was the highlight of Saturday’s rout at Butlin Road, a result which ended their four-match winless streak in the United Counties League Premier Division.
Adams had no complaints about the nature of the win, with former Stratford duo James Hancocks and Dylan Parker joining the returning Lewis Hayden in the starting line-up, and said: “We’ve put in a really good performance on Saturday against a team who had been unbeaten in the league beforehand.
“I think the introduction of the new players is what we needed at this point.
“We hadn’t been doing as well as we had hoped so far, and you can’t stay loyal forever.”
Ryan Seal fired home from debutant Parker’s cut back on eight minutes to start the rout, with Luckie firing home his first of the game from the spot after being bundled over in the box.
Jamal Clarke was next to register on the scoresheet, making it 3-0 after 25 minutes with a thumping header into the roof of the net.
Luckie made it four from close range to open the second-half scoring, though Wellingborough made their mark on the scoresheet when Ryan Lovell curled home.
Liam Francis’ header and Luckie’s hat-trick goal late on sealed the win, leaving Adams confident of getting Town’s title charge back on track.
“I am sticking to what I have been saying over recent weeks in that I will be happy if we can hang on in there for the opening ten games – as I believe we have been handed a really tough start,” he said.
Rugby visit seventh-placed Holbeach United on Saturday (3pm).
