Moulton Harrox assistant manager Bobby Patterson reckons his side are the “benchmark” of the league after opening their season with 2-1 Premier Division win at Uppingham Town.

With manager Kev Nottingham away at a family engagement, Patterson and ex-player Phil Groves were in charge of Harrox in what turned out to be a hard-fought encounter at Todd’s Piece.

The visitors fell behind to a goal was scored by Martin Turriccki before Billy King equalised from the penalty spot just before half time.

After seeing a number of chances go begging in the second half, Louis Steadman fired home a winner to seal the win.

Patterson said: “Away games are always hard and we’re a couple of games behind the rest of the league.

“We hadn’t played competitively for a couple of weeks since our last friendly and we noticed the difference at Uppingham where we went 1-0 down after 20 minutes.

“It was a little big against the run of play so our heads dropped a little bit.

“Then we came back into it and got a penalty that our captain Billy King took and slotted home.

“We came out in the second half and took control, creating chances but without taking them.

“We were wondering if it was going to one of these days, then Uppingham self-destructed because their centre half got sent off and with ten minutes of the game left, Louis scored with a great strike from the edge of the box.

“Not many teams will go to Uppingham and get a result.

“But over the last ten to 15 years, Moulton Harrox have always been the team others set their benchmark by and I take that as a compliment.”

In stark contrast to Harrox, Crowland Town’s unbeaten start to the season ended with a 1-0 defeat at Stilton United.

Meanwhile, Long Sutton Athletic manager Dan Monaghan admitted that his side’s 9-0 drubbing at Oakham United was “not very enjoyable”.

Four goals for Matthew Eaton and one each for Brendan Burton, Sam Cooper, Samuel Lilley, Callum Madigan and Chris Ward.

But Monaghan said: “It was one of those games where, towards the end, it wasn’t very enjoyable because it had lost that competitive edge.

“The opposition were below par, but I don’t know whether they’ve lost a few players.

“We took a lot of our chances but if we’d have taken them all, it could have been 15 or 16-0.

“From our point of view, we were disappointed with the first game of the season at Stilton United because we created a lot of chances that we didn’t take, while their goal was fortuitous as it came from a corner that was flicked in off one of our players.

“Hopefully, we’ll enjoy the competitive side of the game a lot more when we face Peterborough North End Sports on Saturday.”

The final Premier Division game involving our sides saw Jordan Keeble score a hat-trick as Holbeach United Reserves secured a 3-2 win at ICA Sports.

In Division One, Crowland Town Reserves fared better than the first team, beating Rippingale & Folkingham 4-2 at Snowden Field.

Jordan Kirchin scored twice, one of the goals coming by way of an impressive 20-yard curling free kick, with the other goals coming from Jamie Beeken and Nathan Woodward.

Moulton Harrox Reserves drew 1-1 with Stamford Belvedere at Moulton Playing Field where former Spalding United and Pinchbeck United striker Edgaras Buzas scored for Harrox.

But there were defeats for Tydd, who lost 4-1 at Eunice Huntingdon, NECI, who also went down 4-1 at Wittering Premiair. and Pinchbeck United Reserves, who lost 3-1 at Oundle Town where Knights’ striker Evander José scored for the second week in a row.

Division Two action included a 1-0 loss for Holbeach United Sports at home to Deeping Rangers Reserves, Jamie Sharpe with the goal for the Clarets’ second string at Pennyhill.

There was also a home loss for Long Sutton Athletic Reserves who fell 3-1 to Farcet United, Jake Lally scoring for the Magpies’ second string.

In Division Three, Tydd Reserves finished up on the wrong end of a seven-goal thriller at home to Huntingdon Rovers, losing 4-3, despite goals from Kai Scott-Henson, Luke Want and Jamie Steward for Tydd.

The only South Holland side who played in Division Four on Saturday was Long Sutton Athletic A who lost 3-0 at Sawtry.

In Division Five, NECI Reserves were 6-2 winners against Ramsey Town Reserves at the Elizabethan Centre, Whaplode Drove.

Tatenda Chipunza, Liam Gallagher, Daniel Leach, Kyle Merry and a brace from Cory Rose gave the home side the points.

Manager Michael Norris said: “We started off a bit slow and went 1-0 down with about five minutes played.

“But then we turned the screw, started playing and completely controlled the game.

“It’s a new group of lads here this season and being a newly formed team, they’re getting used to each other as players.

“We’ve got Dan Chamberlain from Deeping Rangers Reserves and so it’s just a case of getting the group together and taking our chances.”

Sutton Bridge United took a point from Langtoft United after a 2-2 draw, Joseph Sutton and Matthew Wayman scoring for Bridge, while Ashley Favell and Ben Hudson were on target for Langtoft.

There was also a 2-2 draw for Holbeach Bank at Kings Cliffe A where Sam Drew’s side backed up their 1-0 win at home to FC Hampton A with a valuable away point through goals by Aidan Armstrong and Jamie Stonebridge.

Also on Saturday, the Boston & District Saturday League finally got their season under way with the first round of the Sharman & Burgess Sports Cup.

Pinchbeck United Sports went down 8-2 against Old Leake at Knight Street.

There was heartbreak for Spalding Harriers who held Boston College to a 3-3 draw before going out 4-3 on penalties.

But Swineshead Institute got the better of Pointon, winning 7-4, while Kirton Town edged past Boston Town Reserves 3-2.

In Division Two, Swineshead Institute Reserves shared the points with Woodhall Spa Reserves after they drew 2-2.

In Division Three, Wyberton A got the better of Fishtoft Reserves with a 3-0 home victory.

Finally, in the Balcan Lighting Supplies Lincolnshire League, now expanded from 13 to 17 teams, Wyberton drew 2-2 at Sleaford Town Juniors.

Scott Dawson and Thomas Wilkinson were the scorers for Wyberton.

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