Daisy Hill got off to a stunning start in their opening game of the season in the North West Counties League First Division North with a 5-0 win against Steeton at the Ginge Power Stadium on Saturday.
Two early goals from Gerry McCullion gave Daisy a great start, and after Ollie Partington had increased the lead 17 minutes from time, Will Shawcross added two more in the dying moments to round off a good afternoon for Daisy.
And manager Nicky Hunt was understandably delighted with the result.
"It’s just one game, but let's take the positives out of the game," said Hunt.
"We were awesome today, at times. Steeton had a 10-minute spell first half, where after we got 2-0 up, we took the foot off the gas, and they should have probably had a goal before half time,
"But in the second half we just set our stall out and we've scored five goals, and it’s the first time since I've been manager that we've scored five goals.
"I think we showed towards the end of the game, the last 15 to 20 minutes, there was only going to be one team that's going to score goals, and we did, so fair credit to the lads.
"We were solid, strong, and we did what we couldn't do last year, and that was keep a clean sheet.
"I think we only kept two last year, so that's one chalked off already.
"The lads set their stall out, from the changing room straight into the warm-up and straight into the first 15 minutes of the game.
"Football's a game of decision-making, and the more times you make the right decision, the more times out of 10 you'll have a chance to score.
"But everything takes time. We're nowhere near the finished article, it's one game of football, and let's not get carried away.
"I just told the lads to enjoy your moments when you win, but there's another 41 league games to go and the focus now is straight away on to Monday night when we play AFC Knowsley."
Daisy striker McCullion got off to a great start with two goals in the opening 15 minutes.
The first came after Daisy broke on the counter from a Steeton corner, and a long ball over the top found McCullion, who took a touch with his chest before smashing a low shot past Steeton keeper Oliver Gollcher.
Nine minutes later McCullion added a second when he pounced on a loose back pass, and although his first effort was blocked by Gollcher, the ball fell nicely for him to tuck away at the second attempt.
McCullion continued to be a thorn in the Steeton defence, and on the half-hour mark he had another chance but was denied by a terrific block by Steeton defender Loye Aramu, and then shortly afterwards he found the back of the net once more, only to be ruled offside.
In the early stages of the second half, Steeton enjoyed the better of the possession and territory, but got little change out of a well-marshalled Daisy defence who ensured that keeper Josh Brooks was rarely troubled.
With 17 minutes remaining, Daisy added a third goal when a move down the right set up Jacob Ridings to square the ball across to incoming full-back Partington, who side-footed home with an angled drive.
Daisy kept pushing forward, and as the game moved into stoppage time substitute Fionn Murphy won a penalty when he was tripped in the box and Shawcross comfortably rolled in the spot-kick.
But there was still time for Shawcross to bag his second of the afternoon with virtually the last kick of the game, when Sullivan Barker pinched the ball off the toes of a Steeton defender and played a pass through a gap in the defence for Shawcross to round off a good afternoon for Daisy with a fifth goal.
Daisy are quickly back in league action again tonight when they host AFC Knowsley at the Ginge Power Stadium (7.45pm).
Share