STEETON made the perfect start to life at Marley yesterday afternoon, with goals from Ben Wignall, Toby Jeffrey and Jake Townsend seeing them to a comfortable 3-0 win against Nelson in front of a sell-out crowd in the North West Counties League Division One North.

Nelson started the better of the sides, with Yves Zama’s physicality and movement proving to be a handful for centre-backs Alistair Morgan and Tyler Marsh.

He had the game’s first shot on target, with a low drive from the edge of the box in the eighth minute, but Jordan Moorhouse reacted quickly to parry the ball to safety.

Steeton began to get a foothold in the game, with Kayle Price and Luke Baldwin looking lively, but the hosts could not capitalise from a series of counter-attacks and dangerous free-kicks.

They almost went behind midway through the half when Zama found space between the two centre-halves to power a header towards goal, only for his teammate to deflect it over the bar.

The visitors continued to look the more likely to score, coming within inches of the opener when Mo Farhan Subhani was adjudged to have committed a foul on the edge of the box.

The resulting free-kick beat Moorhouse but crashed against the post.

However, it was the home side who broke the deadlock against the run of play after 32 minutes.

They countered quickly, with Price finding space on the right wing before squaring through a sea of Steeton players for the onrushing Wignall to slot home for his second goal in two games.

And the Chevrons were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty minutes later when, after spilling the ball, visiting goalkeeper Jack Little appeared to trip Townsend in the box.

The referee waved away the appeals from the men in green, instead signalling for a goal kick.

Steeton found their rhythm after the break, with substitute Andy Briggs providing a strong attacking threat. He set up Price, who shot just wide of the post, before seeing his own effort blocked.

Nelson began to push forward in search of an equaliser but were left vulnerable to the Steeton counter.

The visitors’ full-backs began to struggle against the pace of Price and Baldwin, with Dylan Meredith perhaps lucky to stay on the pitch after a series of crunching tackles in the final third.

The Chevrons had a fantastic chance to extend their lead when Farhan Subhani won a free-kick on the edge of the box, but Baldwin’s curling effort was comfortably saved by Little.

Steeton saw efforts from Briggs and Price saved by the Nelson goalkeeper, before scoring a second in the 84th minute.

A through ball found substitute Jeffrey on the right, who sent a low strike into the bottom corner with his first touch of the afternoon.

Nelson sent everybody forward in search of a consolation, but Morgan and Ben Darkins were on hand to deal with everything that came their way.

Man of the match Townsend crowned a fantastic second-half performance with the pick of the goals against his former club in the 89th minute.

The midfielder found himself in acres of space, before firing a sublime 25-yard strike into the top corner.

Steeton manager Roy Mason was impressed with his side’s display and hopes it will attract more people on matchdays.

He enthused: “I’m delighted for the lads. In this day and age, it's all about the squad we have, not just the starting eleven. All three of the substitutes made a difference when they came on.

“I think we were full value for the win and I'm sure people will have really enjoyed it.

“You only get one chance to make a first impression and there were a lot of people watching Steeton for the first time.

“It was important they left here with a good feeling and that they’d enjoyed the game.”

This second consecutive win sees Steeton move up to seventh in the table. They are next due in action away at Atherton LR on Saturday, with kick-off scheduled for 3pm.

BY EMMA KENNEDY