DEFENDING champions Atherton suffered opening day heartache in a 37-run defeat against Bury.

Bury skipper Simon Belston won the toss and batted first with opener Mumtaz Mirza got the ball rolling with 51 in their total of 187-8.

Jamar Griffiths harvested the most success with the ball (5-53).

In reply, new recruit Griffiths scored 39 while West Indian professional Nekoli Parris took 5-50 as Atherton fell short.

Luke Perry’s 53 ensured last season’s runners-up Flixton hit the ground running with a 24-run win against Darcy Lever.

Steve Hammond added a further 43 as Aiden Featherstone’s side were all out for 159 and Scott Burns’ 3-31 was the pick of the bowlers.

Anton Beckford (4-42) and Hammond (2-25) took wickets regularly as Darcy Lever finished on 135-9.

Karl Jones’ 5-27 helped Adlington open their account with a five-wicket win against Golborne.

Golbourne were all out for 96 thanks to the efforts of Jones and Ben King (3-9).

Skipper Chris Mulligan led by example with 22 as Adlington reached their target with 17 overs to spare.

Lostock kicked off celebrations of returning to Bolton for the first time in eight years with a 35-run win against fellow newboys Worsley.

Dan Cockton hit 11 fours on his way to 81 as Lostock scored 200 in their 48 overs.

Worsley were all out for 165 with Dan McKeown top-scoring with 62 as Cockton also claimed two wickets.

Fellow new-boys Swinton Moorside announced their arrival in the Bolton Association with a 38-run win against Blackrod in a rain-affected game.

David Flatley (27), Jamie McDougall (41) and captain Jonathan Herreran (77) all made key contributions in their total of 232.

Thushendra de Zoysa produced one of the performances of the day with 5-54 with the ball and followed it up with 101 but it was not enough to help Blackrod over the finish line.

Winton triumphed by two wickets in a nail-biting encounter with Standish.

Niall Burke (41) and Sam Heeley (24) played key roles in Standish’s total of 130-8.

Winton got off to the worst possible start losing skipper Mike Seenan to a duck on the second ball of the game.

They rallied to 45-5 but were on the ropes but a partnership of 45 by Nick Storey and Aussie Justin Kramersh gave them hope.

Kramersh had been the hero with the ball with 3-56 and hit 24 before being out with seven needed.

But Winton battled on to pick up the win.

Jack McClung’s 87 not out inspired Walshaw to one of the biggest wins of the day, beating Astley and Tyldesley by 55 runs.

Batting first, McClung and Nick Murphy (41 not out) helped Mikey Watt’s side to 224-8 with Jimmy Cutt rewarded for his efforts 3-79.

Astley and Tyldesley struggled to get going at 9-2 but Aussie Jarvis Wordsworth (42) and Hamman Patel (34) steadied the ship.

Liam Riley starred with the ball 3-41 as Walshaw recorded an opening day win.

Elsewhere, Edgworth cruised to a five wicket home win against Elton.

John Ashworth’s 42 stood out as Elton reached 116-9.

Edgeworth started slowly at 8-1 after three overs, Liam Watkinson’s unbeaten 36 helped them to win in 24 overs.

Mark Wood (22), Mark Atherton (23) and Paul Atherton (21) helped Daisy Hill to beat Little Hulton by five wickets.

The Old Vicarage side won the toss and put Little Hulton in first and they were skittled out for 120.

New signing Hasnan Abbas scored 42 in the innings as Amjid Kahn took 6-55.

In reply, Daisy Hill reached their target in 30.4 overs with Abbas' 3-27 the pick of the bowling effort.