Two wins from two for newly-promoted Stockton

Stockton got their Coventry Alliance Premier Division campaign under way with two victories in four days.
Josh Cole set up Ross Briscoe's second for Stockton.Josh Cole set up Ross Briscoe's second for Stockton.
Josh Cole set up Ross Briscoe's second for Stockton.

Newly promoted Stockton made hard work of an opening-day win at home to Ambleside, with two late Ross Briscoe goals eventually securing them a 3-1 success in a game they controlled for large parts.

A 22-yard strike from George Sweeney gave the home side a deserved advantage but a defensive error allowed Ambleside to restore parity mid-way through the second period.

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Stockton wasted a host of chances to go back in front before Briscoe’s clever lob made it 2-1 with ten minutes remaining.

Briscoe added his second to make the points safe, tapping in after good work from the Josh Cole to leave manager Scott Easterlow a relieved man.

“In the first game of season you just want three points no matter which way they come,” he said.

“I said to lads after the game that we become frustrated too quickly and it encouraged the opposition.

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“We need to be patient and just keep plugging away and we’ll get our rewards 99.9 per cent of the time.”

They followed it up on Tuesday night with a 1-0 win at Jet Blades.

A clinical Tom Callaghan finish put the visitors ahead in the 15th minute but they again struggled to close out the game, hitting the bar and post twice and missing other good opportunities.

“One-nil doesn’t tell the true story but we never looked in danger and although it’s not ideal, as long as we creating chances I’m sure sooner or later we will get the conversion rate right.”