Satisfied assistant boss Paul Crowson admitted Moulton Harrox couldn’t haved asked for a better start to the season after seeing off Sutton Bridge United 3-0 on Saturday.
First-half goals from Marcus Parry (5), Matt Watkin (25) and Dan Woods (42) were enough for Harrox in the ChromaSport PDFL Premier Division clash at Broad Lane.
Some 280 fans were in attendance as the game was part of the UCL/PDFL Groundhop weekend, with Crowson also complimentary of promoted Bridge.
Crowson said: “I thought we did OK against a good, honest Sutton Bridge side.
“We had a few young lads in the side and they were understandably nervous, but Marcus’ early goal settled us down.
“At 3-0 at half-time, I think Sutton Bridge decided to go into damage limitation mode.
“They set their stall out and, fair play to them, they’ll be alright if they play like that this season.
“For us, it’s a very good start to the season. To score three goals and keep a clean sheet is all we could have asked for.
“It’s a good start for us to build on ahead of Saturday’s game with champions Peterborough Sports Reserves.
“It’ll be interesting to see what kind of side they have this year.”
Harrox made a flying start when rapid frontman Parry raced clear and fired the opener inside five minutes. Although Joe Sutton and Ben Partridge went close for promoted Bridge, it was mostly one-way traffic in the first period with skipper Joe Townsend seeing an effort deflected wide and Ash Coddington nodding wide from the resulting corner.
Goal number two eventually arrived for the hosts, with Watkin heading home from a Woods set-play and via a flick on from Louis Steadman.
Not done there, Parry hit both the bar and post before Woods cut inside and lashed home goal number three just before the break. Harrox took their foot off the gas in the second period, but still forced Bridge keeper Dan Smith into a host of saves. Indeed, Townsend, Parry and Jake Mason all saw efforts stopped by the away number one.
Sam Lilley went close to netting a consolation late on as his close-range effort was blocked, while Parry rattled the woodwork again late on.
Harrox: Wilding, McGuire, Coddington, Watkin, Relf (Johnson 77), Townsend, Cawthorne, L Steadman (King 77), Woods, Parry, Mason (Earth 69). Not used: Groves, Farrell.
Sutton Bridge: Smith, Fox, Murley, Osborn (Scott 51), Stockdale, Lilley, Hook, Sutton, Partridge (Jones 72), Lally, Cooper. Not used: Thompson. Att: 280.
