Crook Town manager Wilf Constantine enjoyed a happy return to Easington, one of his old clubs, when his team pulled off an excellent 6-2 win in the ENL Second Division.

Matthew Stephenson and then Danny Pigg in turn put Crook into the lead, only for Jack Pounder and Liam Adamson to equalise by 57th minute. But new signing Luke Hogan and Pigg scored twice in as many minutes, then Hogan and Christian Holliday finished off the scoring.

Constantine said; “It was a really good start for us against one of the fancied teams. The first half was a close affair but we took over in the second half for a great win.”

Esh Winning, who finished bottom last season with just seven victories, started this campaign with a win, by 3-2 at Darlington RA, Nick Marley scoring the winner in the second half. Marley gave Esh an early lead, but Chris Tarn levelled from the spot, and Mark Sims put them in front. But Jonathan Swift equalised on 39 minutes and Marley chipped the keeper for the winner.

Esh Winning manager Tony Boakes said; “We made hard work of today’s win. We got on top in the second half and it was a great chip by Nick for our winner.”

Durham City had their keeper, Joe Wilson, to thank for their 1-0 away win at newcomers Jarrow. Wilson saved a retaken penalty by Jonathan Hirst in the dying minutes – he stopped the first but the referee said that he’d moved off his line and ordered a retake.

Bradley Hird scored the winner with ten minutes left from the spot for Durham, whose manager Olly Hotchkiss said; “We’re very pleased with the win. We had most of the possession and lacked a cutting edge. The players worked hard and adapted the game plan against a very good Jarrow side. Our keeper did well to save a twice taken penalty to give us the winning start that we deserved.”

Tow Law beat Northallerton 2-1 at Ironworks Road. Lawyers took an early lead through a looping header by Matthew Soulsby, but Northallerton levelled with a Jack Proctor header. Lawyers got the winner in the second half through Kai Hewitson, who pounced on a mistake to score on his return to the club.

Northallerton manager Darren Trotter said; “I thought it was a typical first game of the season. We played some good stuff in spells then were sloppy in spells. It was all a bit disjointed and the final ball constantly let us down. However, errors cost us something from the game. WE move forward with a lot of positives for the upcoming games.”

Brandon United had a poor start, losing 5-0 at home to Ryton and Crawcrook who finished second bottom last season.