Newcomers Ryhope CW announced their arrival in the league in emphatic fashion by thumping Stokesley 7-0 away from home.

Ryhope, who were promoted from the Wearside League, never looked back after they took an early lead through Jonny Butler, and by half time he had completed his hat trick with Nathan Johnson adding another. Chris Winn scored two more in the second half, with Butler scoring his fourth right at the end.

Ryhope CW manager Martin Swales said: “We got off to a great start by scoring early on, and that allowed us to take control of the game. I never thought that we would win our first game by this margin. But I’ve told the lads that not every game is going to be like that in the second division.”

Darlington RA also got off to a flier, winning 5-1 at Brandon. RA player manager Nick Harrison put his team in front after 22 minutes with David Webster adding the second on the half hour mark. Fred Huscroft got two more, and after James Evison added the fifth, Marc Costello scored a late consolation for Brandon.

Darlington Ra manager Nick Harrison said: “We’re very happy with a good start. We were a bit sluggish and sloppy on the back of two games against South Shields , but we had enough quality even though we only had twelve players available.”

Northallerton , who lost 5-4 to Guisborough in the FA Cup last week, shared six goals against Crook Town.

Northallerton took an early lead when Carl Chillingsworth scored from a rebound, but Crook levelled when Kevin Devine burst away and scored. David Paul put Crook into the lead from 15 yards, but Northallerton levelled on 41 minutes with a Chillingsworth header. Adam Emson then dribbled through the Crook defence to make it 3-2, but just on half time Crook equalised through Graham Liddle. Crook played for most of the second half with ten men after Chris Wallace was dismissed for throwing a punch.

Crook assistant manager Stu Gooden said: “We started slowly and went a goal behind, but we showed great character in a very entertaining first half. It was a very fair result considering that we had only ten men for the last 40 minutes. It was a good point against a very good team.”

Northallerton manager Mark Fanning said: “We’ve got some good attacking players, but we’re leaving ourselves exposed.”

Whickham had a good 1-0 away win at Thornaby , even though they played three quarters of the game with ten men after Craig Tate was sent off.

Tony Thirkell scored the only goal of the game when ran through and lobbed the Thornaby keeper.

Thornaby assistant manager Ray Morton said: “We lacked penetration and didn’t take our chances. They defended well.”

Whickham manager Robin Falcus said; “I thought we controlled the game from the off and could have scored two before we got the opener. Craig Tate got a red card after 25 minutes and that spoiled the game. In the second half we defended well and could have scored a couple more on the break.”

Former Esh Winning midfielder Craig Marron returned to his old club with Birtley, and scored one of the goals in his side’s 2-0 win, an early penalty. Kieran Featherstone added the second near the end.

Esh Winning manager Andrew Soppitt said; “A close competitive game with little to choose between the two sides. Both teams missed a lot of chances , and we have a few things to work on for Wednesday night.”

Birtley manager Scott Oliver said: “It was a tight game as it always is between us and Esh. I’ve got to applaud our players’ workrate because we’ve had two tough games this week.”

Tow Law’s first ever game in the second division saw them draw 0-0 with Alnwick at Ironworks Road. They enjoyed most of the possession in the game, but didn’t take any of the several chances they created.

Tow Law manager Gary Anderson said: “We dominated the first 20 minutes then Alnwick came back into it, causing us a few problems. We totally dominated the game in the second half and should have taken all three points, but we couldn’t find the net.”

Former Tow Law manager Ian Davison, now at Chester-le-Street , scored for his new side in their 1-1 draw at Whitehaven. Davison fired home from the edge of the box to give Chester the lead with just minutes remaining, but Whitehaven’s Mattie Tymon levelled in stoppage time.

Chester-le-Street manager Colin Wake said: “In truth we deserved nothing from the game, so we have to be happy with the point but not the performance.”

Another relegated team, Jarrow Roofing, beat North Shields 1-0 with an early goal by Craig Nelson. Shields’ defeat means that they have yet to win on the opening day of the season since they returned to the league nine years ago.

Jarrow Roofing manager Richie McLoughlin said: “It was a hard, hard game, but the 1-0 win was a great result for us.”

Seaham Red Star , under new manager Mark Collingwood, started with a 3-3 draw against West allotment, after being in the lead three times. Michael Turnbull put them in front with a shot on the turn, but Allotment levelled with a Dean Lee tap in. Seaham’s Channon North scored from a Dan Olusoga pass for 2-1, but player-manager Paul Stoneman levelled with a good header. Carl Thorp put Seaham back into the lead from close range, but right at the death, Tony Lancaster equalised. Seaham also hit the bar twice.

Seaham manager Mark Collingwood said: “I thought we threw the points away with sloppy defending from setplays. We must learn quickly to see games out. Other than that, I thought we were by far the better side.”

Horden, who finished just above the relegation zone last year will be pleased with a point from their goalless draw at Morpeth.

Washington beat Ryton 2-1 at the Nissan Sports Complex, all the goals coming late in the game. Lee Hamilton and Jake Leighton put Washington 2-0 up, before Stephen Crame pulled a late goal back for Ryton.

Washington manager Richie Latimer said; “Normal first game of the season, we didn’t know whether to stick or twist. Once we found the pace of the game we played well and made two or three chances. But in the second half it was all us, and we deserved to win.”