A NEW era dawned at Winsford Saxons on Saturday – and they got it off to a flying start.

Their move from the Crewe and District Football League to the Chester and Wirral League may have come late in the day, but they showed no signs of needing a period of adjustment.

They thumped Neston Nomads 5-0 on the opening day to get life in the CWFL Championship off to the perfect start.

“What a start it was – winning 5-0 and ultimately, it could and should have been six or seven,” manager Gary Lee Jamieson said.

“We attacked the game from the off.

“It took us a few minutes to settle but once we did, we were in control throughout.”

Jaymie Roberts poked home a corner after 10 minutes to settle any Saxons nerves before a fine left-footed strike from Stephen Snape doubled the lead shortly afterwards.

Debutant Sam Fallows fired into the bottom corner after beating the Neston full-back to make it 3-0 at the break, and there was more debut joy after the restart.

Dylan Williams – another making his first Saxons appearance – scored with a breath-taking volley before the scoring was rounded off by centre-back Barry Jones, who was on the scoresheet for the second opening day in a row.

Meanwhile, goals either side of half time proved critical for Middlewich Town as they picked up their first Cheshire Football League Premier Division victory of the season on Saturday.

Dean Burgess and Steven Hughes struck before and after the interval to help the Witches to a 3-1 win over Eagle Sports at Seddon Street after Callum Priestley had opened their account.

Their next fixture sees them travel to Warrington to take on Daten on Saturday.

Elsewhere, the Winsford United squad split into two on Saturday for a brace of pre-season friendlies.

Unfortunately for Lee Duckworth's men, both ended in defeat – Cheadle Town were 2-0 victors at Barton Stadium while the team that made the short trip to Barnton suffered a 4-0 reverse at Townfield.