TWO wins, and plenty of room for improvement.

Northwich have started a new season in North One West exactly the way they will have wanted.

A home success against Warrington was a worthy one, even if a late rally by the visitors to Moss Farm might have made the result closer than it was.

Instead, Blacks can travel to Isle of Man for a meeting with Douglas in confident mood.

They started swiftly last Saturday, and Richard Dale collected a trademark kick cross-field by Nick Baldwin to put the home team in front.

Baldwin landed a conversion, then slotted a penalty.

Ben Hockenhull did the same at the other end after Northwich were penalised for handling in the ruck.

Martin Poste’s men added to their tally shortly afterwards, this time when full-back Will Du Randt darted over at the end of a multi-phase charge following a lineout.

Baldwin and Hockenhull traded three-pointers for a second time, and Blacks led 18-6.

However a distance between the sides was shorter after Warrington stand-off Tom Wood glided to the line between the posts, and Hockenhull’s boot remained reliable.

It did not take long for Northwich to score again after the interval, when scrum-half Matthew Poste squeezed over after Richard Dale had burst onto brother Chris’ clearance kick.

Hockenhull landed a third three-pointer to keep his side’s hopes alive, although they fell further behind when their opponents claimed a bonus-point try.

Du Randt again added final flourish to a flowing team move, and Baldwin added the extras.

Warrington showed their spirit though, and Johnnie Evans sneaked over the whitewash at the end of a spell of sustained pressure.

Hockenhull converted.

They could do nothing to prevent Baldwin scoring a smartly-taken drop goal from the restart.

Nathan Beesley had a try disallowed when Warrington tried to recover, while Hockenhull erred for the first time when missing a penalty late on.

Northwich | Bates, Lindsay, Dudley, Farley, Heywood, Naylor, English, Chris Dale, Poste, Baldwin, Skinkis, Reilly, Underhill, Richard Dale, Du Randt Replacements Harrison, Wilkinson, Thompson Tries Richard Dale, Du Randt (2), Poste Cons Baldwin (2) Pens Baldwin (2) Drop Baldwin

Match report by Steve Wood