It’s never wise though to read too much into these early season encounters especially when its on a bank holiday weekend with both sides short of some of their first choice picks.

Nevertheless, against opposition, who had only narrowly missed out on promotion last season and a quick return to N1W, the Wolves controlled the game for all but about fifteen minutes at the start of the second half. They scored five tries and with just a bit more precision they could easily have added to their tally. Probably they should have as in the sterner tests to come, they will not create so many opportunities and will have to be much more clinical in their finishing. Incoming coach Brendan Thomas and new captain Mike Black, however, will have left the Memorial Ground on Saturday knowing that there is still a lot to do but comforted by a performance with far more positives than negatives.

The Wolves line up contained many of the players from last season, augmented by at least four graduates from Wilmslow High School and the club’s junior section. Only the former Manchester and Macclesfield centre, Richard Hughes, was completely new and he showed exactly why he had been able to hold down his place in the higher National Leagues for so long.

They were quickly into their stride. The set pieces were solid throughout and all the backs had early opportunities to run with ball in hand but frustratingly the side was too easily coughing up the greasy ball in contact situations on a thundery afternoon. They kept up the pressure though and inevitably the visitors started to infringe as they killed and slowed down ruck ball and came up offside. On the quarter hour, Bob MacCallum opened his account for the season with two successful penalties.

Penned back for most of the time, New Brighton could only hoof the ball out of defence when they got their hands on it and from one such not particularly well directed punt, Ollie McCall, playing at fullback, took the ball in acres of space to run and then to create havoc on the New Brighton line with a well judged kick ahead. Quick ball from the ensuing scrum enabled centre Craig Cooper to take an inside pass for an opening try under the posts. Further infringements from New Brighton enabled MacCallum to set up yet another attacking position close to the line on the stroke of half time. Mike Clifford rose majestically in the lineout to take the ball, the pack rallied round and when the try was awarded, it was the former New Brighton back row, Danny Jones, who was at the bottom of the pile taking the plaudits from his teammates.

The second half continued in a similar vein but the Wolves were careless as they got in each others way and MacCallum scuffed two perfectly kickable shots at goal. Briefly New Brighton got into the game when they set up a good attacking position from a mid field penalty. After several phases, Matthew Cook scored from close range and Luke Thompson converted to reduce the deficit.

As the game entered its last quarter, the visitors seemed to visibly run out of puff as first Ed Armitage came inside to take an inside scoring pass from Hughes in what was almost a carbon copy of Cooper’s first half try. Further chances went adrift as New Brighton offended but a sweeping handling move ended with Clifford going over for the fourth try. The last word was from the influential Hughes himself when he was first to the ball close to the New Brighton line and picked up for the final score.