Paul McNally promoted Regan Jarrett and Richard Brodie to the starting 11 with Alex Davies returning from injury and newly signed Sam Byrne named on the bench for the historic opener.

The first chance of the afternoon saw George Lomax try his luck in the opening minute from distance with Ben Barnes claiming comfortably. United responded with a great chance, Tom Croughan picking out Emini Adegbenro who slotted across goal to find the run of Alex Griffiths but saw the ball beat both him and the far post.

Linnets went as close with a Conor Christiansen cross flicking off Nathan Martland before being cleared by the United defence and a quick counter soon saw a long pass from Daniel Murphy find Croughan on the run who crossed low, only to see a defensive flick on with no United attacker in space.

The first save of the afternoon for Jones was a huge one as Griffith's lay-off from a free-kick saw Richard Brodie fire at goal with Jones tipping the ball away but he was simply a spectator minutes later as clever play from Adegbenro saw him cut inside and drive a low shot achingly past the post.

United opened the scoring fortitiously on 22 minutes as a through pass from Griffiths looked to pick out Croughan who though beaten to the ball by Jones collected from a fumble and tapped into the empty net for 1-0 to seal a place in history as the first to score at the new stadium.

Croughan turned provider just two minutes later as his run and cross took a deflection off a Linnets defender to fall perfectly for Griffiths to run onto and slot past Jones for a 2-0 lead.

Burscough looked to respond rapidly and with Nathan Martland finding Christiansen in space, he forced a strong diving save from Barnes from the edge of the area. Another effort this time from distance saw Conor Ready force Barnes to tip past the post.

United were in control on 39 minutes as a clever wing run from Croughan saw him loop a cross which took a slight touch off Adegbenro and flew into the net past Jones for a 3-0 advantage.

The contest looked to be sealed before half-time as United opened up a dream 4-0 lead with just 42 minutes on the clock and alike the opening goal, it came via some luck as a poor clearance from ex-United midfielder Adam Weston fell kindly for Jack Grimshaw who curled the ball past Jones into the far corner.

The second half saw the rain intensify and the game became tighter on the pitch with fewer chances, Christiansen and Martland both drawing saves from ranged efforts for the visitors before Croughan evaded several challenges only to get away a tame shot which Jones claimed comfortably.

Burscough's best chance to cut the gap came as a low cross beat Barnes and needed just a touch at the far post but strong defence coupled with a block as the ball fell to Martland kept United's sheet clean. The Linnets went down to ten men as having used all three substitutes, Adam Dixon had to go off injured after falling awkwardly in an aerial challenge for the ball with Adegbenro.

Two good runs from Adegbenro saw him first fire over the goal with a powerful shot and then cross looking for substitute Sam Byrne but the pace of the ball beat his run to the far post. Clever play from the visitors saw ex-United striker Sean Yeldrem pick out fellow substitute James Salkeld whose strong effort stung the palms of Barnes but it proved to be the final chance as with the final whistle minutes later, United celebrated a perfect start in their new home and in front of a record crowd for the season.

Skelmersdale United - Barnes (c), Davies, Jarrett, Osi-Efa, Murphy, Herbert, Griffiths (Byrne 68), J.Grimshaw, Brodie (T.Grimshaw 76), Croughan (Staunton 84), Adegbenro. Subs not used- Glennon, Stanton.

Burscough - Jones, Dixon, Fielding (Salkeld 46), Presho, Rawsthorne, Kinsella, Christiansen (c) (Pope 84), Ready, Lomax, Martland, Lomax (Yeldrem 68). Subs not used- O'Brien, Uppal.

Referee- Matthew Young
At-266

Highlights - https://youtu.be/2vLmOfFj_D4
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