WILMSLOW Wolves have got themselves off to a pleasing start under new head coach Chris Jones.

His side overhauled Anselmians 67-19 in the Cheshire Vase on Saturday.

The Wolves clearly found this match much more to their taste than anything they found themselves facing last season in the exalted Northern Premier League.

Most of the players, who last season found themselves off the pace, looked sharp and fit for this opening match of the 2019-20 campaign.

Jones, who learnt his rugby in the Wilmslow mini and junior sections and then played several seasons of senior rugby at the club before moving to Macclesfield for a distinguished ten-year playing career, said: “It wasn’t perfect but eleven tries will do nicely.

“At times, we were clinical with ball in hand and we took our opportunities.

“If we didn’t appear to retain the ball for long periods that was because we frequently broke the Anselmians defensive line off just a handful of passes with very few phases.”

This weekend, there will be a far harder test against Burnage, who beat the Wolves on their last visit in March 2018.

Jones knows he’s still got plenty to work on.

The restarts were not always dealt with as well as they could have been, the penalty count against his team was far too high and some loose play was responsible for the Anselmians kick and chase try in the second half.

Nevertheless there was much for him to savour.

“The players have been working hard in pre-season training, the attitude and vibes have been good and it showed in this game, which was a real team effort,” he said.

“They looked keen, full of confidence and most importantly have got themselves fit.”

Wilmslow had four tries in the bank within 15 minutes.

Newcomer and former Sale Sharks star Mark Jennings at No.12 scored the opening try.

This was followed by a debutant try for winger Jamie Kingdon, who went on to get a hat-trick.

Mercurial scrum half Sean Street was next on the score sheet and he too ended up with three tries.

Ethan Harding at No.13 and hooker Tommy Wilkinson shared two tries each.

The second Wilkinson try came from a catch and drive when Wilmslow had two players in the bin and only thirteen on the pitch.

Anselmians had much more of the game than the score would suggest.

For long periods in the second and third quarters, they had plenty of possession deep in the Wilmslow half to score three tries. Generally though, they lacked the craft and pace to break down Wolves.