MALVERN Town had an opening day of the season to forget as they were thumped 3-0 by Haughmond.
Confidence would have been high at Malvern following their fifth placed finish in the West Midlands Regional League last season.
However, Les Jones’ side’s hopes of getting off to a flying start were dashed by Haughmond who took a surprise half time lead through Adam Davies.
He then grabbed a second before Steve Hole wrapped up the victory with seven minutes remaining.
Malvern’s cause was not helped by a string of players being unavailable including Charles Weaver and Joseph Endacott (holiday) and Reece King (suspended), while Dene Whittal-Williams, Bryan Craven and Harry Wickets were all injured.
The first half was very competitive with Malvern having the better of the play but Haughmond creating the better chances.
The first of those opportunities came on the fourth minute when Davies headed over following good play down the left.
Malvern also had their chances as Dave Reynolds went just wide with a free-kick while Matthew Turner had a shot cleared off the line.
And Haughmond’s opener came against the run of play as Davies tapped the ball into the net after getting on the end of Kevin Renshaw’s cross.
The disappointment of conceding a goal just before the break seemed to deflate Malvern as they failed to turn up in the second half.
Haughmond, meanwhile, stepped things up and soon doubled their lead. Shortly after Chris Pinder pulled off a fine save to deny Hole, Davies found the back of the net.
There was then no way back for Town as Hole headed home in the 83rd minute to give his side an unassailable 3-0 lead.