Singleton Strikers kicked off their season in style when they took down Cessnock City Hornets 4-0 at Turner Park on Saturday.
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Jake Barner opened Singleton's account for 2024 in the 17th minute when he found the back of the net to make the score 1-0.
Debutant Wil Pannowitz struck in the 39th minute to double the visitors' lead.
Striker's captain Hayden Nichol made the score 3-0 with the goal of the game eight minutes into the second stanza before Joel Barner made it 4-0 with a goal in injury time.
Doug West's coaching debut at the Strikers was initially delayed a week after their round one clash against West Wallsend was washed out and rescheduled. The gaffer was happy with their first result of the campaign despite what he thought was an ordinary first-half performance.
"I think in the first half we were quite clunky. We looked a bit underdone and our structure wasn't great," West said.
"We fixed a lot of things at half-time and we managed the game out in the second half. There were some very direct words spoken at half-time around the expectation because the performance was well under par for the first half. The guys definitely responded. They came out and dominated, and Cessnock was not in the game in the second half.
"It's great to get off to a winning start. Galvanising the group with a win is really important first up. We were washed out last week so it was great to get out on the pitch and get that win."
Singleton is back in action this Wednesday when they travel to Johnston Park to challenge West Wallsend in their rescheduled round one clash before travelling to Blacksmiths Oval to take on Belmont Swansea United on Saturday afternoon.
Cessnock have now lost both of their first two games this season and will be hoping to turn that around on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Metford to play against Thornton Redbacks in the Match of the Round.
