THERE was a baptism of fire for new Upton AA player-manager Andy Lloyd on Saturday as his under-strength side went down 5-1 at home to Marine Reserves in their West Cheshire League Division One opener.

The impressive Merseysiders raced into a two-goal lead before William Dodd halved the deficit with a stunning free kick after half-an-hour.

Upton pressed forward in search of an equaliser and they were unfortunate not to get one through new signing Nathan Mapletoft. It therefore came against the run of play when Marine struck for the third time.

The hosts, who lost Sam Jones to injury, were forced to push forward.

That, however, left gaps at the back which the visitors exploited to give the final scoreline a flattering outlook.

Chester Nomads fared better as they triumphed 2-0 at Maghull with goals from the highly rated Kieran Smith and man-of-the-match Dan Delgado.

Blacon Youth Club lost an incident-packed clash at Southport Trinity 5-4.

After a forgettable first half for Blacon, hat-trick hero Lee McElmeel and Mike Makin gave them hope.

Hitman Ronnie Morgan scored twice as Christleton won 2-0 at Mossley Hill Athletic on Friday.

Promoted Helsby (John Coady 2, Ben Norton) made the perfect start to Division Two with a 3-2 home win over Marshalls on Saturday.

Capenhurst Villa (Mark Ryan) lost 3-1 at Prescot Cables Reserves.

There were Division Three defeats for Upton AA Reserves (Will Kelly), 2-1 at Marshalls Reserves, and Chester Nomads Reserves (Callum Johnson, Alan Bond), 3-2 at Merseyside Police.

Christleton Reserves (Tom Jones, Adam Moore) also lost, 3-2 at Gateacre.

Upton (Vidal Spaine 2) were then beaten 6-2 at home by Capenhurst Villa Reserves on Tuesday as Christleton drew 0-0 with Nomads.