Claregate Park Rangers seconds hit back to stun the champions

They took on arch rivals and newcomers Claregate Park Rangers seconds as a new Concentric Sales & Lettings-sponsored campaign kicked off with a local derby.

The outcome was a shock 4-2 triumph for the seconds, who struck back from a 2-0 half-time deficit to open with a memorable success, writes Dave McLean.

Boss of last season’s champions Gary Cooper admitted: “On the balance of play they deserved the win. They were more effective than us.”

Two-goal Rodney Williams had fired the champs into a 2-0 advantage just gone the half-hour, before the seconds took full advantage early in the second half when the champions found themselves down to nine players after having one red-carded and a second sin-binned under new league rules.

The seconds cut the deficit on 52 minutes, then struck on 71, 77 and 79 minutes to open their Beacon account in some style.

Codsall Station will be looking to go two better than last season’s third-place finish, but they dropped first-day points after sharing four goals with visiting FC Premier U21s.

The hosts conceded an early own goal before Liam Davies brought things level. Gianni Singh restored FC Premier’s lead on the hour, only for Davies to notch his second to earn Codsall a point.

Last term’s fourth-placed outfit, Sedgley & Gornal United, got their season off to a sound start with a well-earned 5-1 home success over newly-promoted Trysull Tigers.

Although the Tigers cancelled out United’s narrow interval lead, the experienced Rion Francis-Mills inflicted the second-half damage with a treble, receiving good support from two-goal Jack Kelly. Trysull’s sole response came from Aaron Bolton.

Beacon Lions opened their top-flight programme with a 3-0 victory at Shere Punjab Wolves, with goals from Kieron Grew (two) and Cory Hill.

AFC Sporting Gornal were pleased with their opening efforts in the Paycare Development Division, a 5-1 triumph at FC Premier 2014. The goals came from Owen Harris (three), Jordan Robinson and Jordan Meads, with Mason Heard replying.

After just one league win in the top flight last term, relegated Cannock United will be keen to bounce straight back and showed their intentions with a 4-1 win over visiting newcomers Coseley FC as Glen Walker, Cory Griffiths, Josh Bradley and Chris Elliott shared the goal limelight. Callum White responded.

New-boys CTS (Coseley, Tipton, Sedgley) United had Jay Crumpton bagging a hat-trick in a 5-1 win against Health District, as Ashley Walker and Jack Gould also netted. The sole reply came from Kash Ismail.

In a tight affair, Sedgley Rangers and Wyrley Juniors shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw, Reece Frendo’s 88th-minute equaliser cancelling out Anthony Ison’s 35th-minute lead for the former.

The Paycare fixture between Gornal Rangers and local rivals Dudley Rangers United was unfortunately abandoned just after the hour mark after one of the latter’s players suffered a suspected broken ankle. United were leading 1-0 and the fixture will almost certainly be rescheduled.

The final fixture on day one proved a ding dong affair with Penn Rovers snatching a dramatic 7-6 victory after trailing three times against newcomers Essington AFC.

“That was some game.” said Rovers team boss Ian Craig. “It is the first time in our history that we’ve managed to win our opening match.”

Securing three Paycare points for Rovers were James Craig (four), Connor Clifton, Callum White and Jackson Game.