Darlo record opening day victory
It was a perfect start to life at Blackwell Meadows for manager Liam Manning, as Darlington coasted past Curzon Ashton with a 3-0 victory on the opening day.
The once Darlington supporter was appointed in June, following Tommy Wright's resignation and was taking charge of his first competitive fixture.
Curzon Ashton are once again tipped to struggle in the Vanarama National North - as they begin their fourth season at this level. However, manager John Flanagan, who has been with the club since 2011, has worked heroics to allow the Nash to survive.
It has been a summer of transition at Blackwell Meadows, as six debutants started. However, Darlo looked comfortable from the off and would put early pressure on Cameron Mason's goal. It wasn't long until the pressure paid off, as David Syers' effort from a well-worked corner gave Darlo the lead.
Curzon were limited well by a well organised defence, that sat high and remained structured to catch former Liverpool youngster Adam Morgan offside numerous times in the first forty-five.
It continued to be one-way traffic for the remainder of the game, as Darlo would double their lead in the 51st minute. Substitute Stephen Thompson would see his audacious effort cannon off the post, but ricochet off the back of the visitors 'keeper and find the net.
The visitors rarely troubled Jonny Maddison's goal, with their best chance coming through Adam Morgan. The forward received the ball, took it into his control and launched an effort from just outside the area, but it proved to be a routine save for the former Yeovil stopper.
The afternoon would be wrapped up in style, as David Syers doubled his tally. A good passing move eventually found its way to the midfielder, who carefully placed his effort into the left-hand corner, beating Cameron Mason from outside the area.
Following the game, Manning revealed his delight.
"A fantastic result to open the season and I am immensely pleased to do so. Starting well is often the key in this league. You have to get early momentum and look to keep that going for as long as possible. It's a real slog this league but you have to fight for every result and we did that today, in style."
"I have a lot of respect for John, he has done a very good job with his side. However, we were the much better side and the result is probably correct, in truth. We took our chances and now we look to get a similar result against Spennymoor on Tuesday night."