Cleethorpes Town suffered an opening day 1-0 defeat to Nostell Miners Welfare on Saturday at the Bradley Community Stadium. Steve Wales got the only goal of the game after he captialised on a defensive mistake. With over 20 attempts on goal, the Owls huffed and they puffed but just could not break Nostell’s house down.

Marcus Newell made several changes to last weeks squad which ran out 5-1 winners over Boston Town in a pre-season friendly but kept with most that won the Toolstation Cup two weeks ago in Bristol.

The Owls started off brightly with 27 year old Marc Cooper coming close within two minutes of the game but he was pulled back for a foul on Jamie Allsop.

Just moments later Nostell’s Wayne Ball lashed a wild effort well wide of the mark much to the amusement of the home crowd.

With the Owls on the ascendancy, they pushed forward and came close to breaking the deadlock but found keeper Ben Saynor in fine form as he first denied last seasons top scorer Brody Robertson then Alex Flett at the near post.

Robertson then missed a guilt edged chance with 10 minutes on the clock after Cooper did well on the wing to cross for Robertson but he air kick 10 yards out was disappointing for the youngster.

Completely against the run of play Nostell opened the scoring. A long punt up field by Saynor bounced over Liam Dickens head then Wales managed to sneak the ball past Luke Mascall and with just the keeper to beat he coolly slid the ball underneath the onrushing Jody Barford to give the visitors a shock lead.

An equaliser nearly came just three minutes later after former Chester FC player Peter Winn lofted a cross into the box. It was partially cleared but fellkindly to Cooper but he dragged his shot wide.

The stern defence of Nostell kept strong as the Owls were reduced to long range efforts for the next ten minutes. First, Flett tried his luck from 25 yards, then Mascalls 30 yard shot was parried into the path of Robertson but Max Elliot was on hand to clear the ball to safety.

Frustrated and clearly not on top the Owls kept plucking away at the Nostell back line and came really close to equalising as the game ticked into injury time at the end of the first half. Oglesby swung an inswinging corner from the left to Winn who managed to steer the ball goal bound but Matthew Johnson was in the right place to knock the ball upwards onto the bar and out of play.

With both sides unchanged at the break the second half started with a flurry of chances for both sides. Nostel broke forward as the Owls search for an equaliser but his searching ball towards Jake Henderson was completely missed by the midfielder with the goal gaping.

A break then ensued as Jonathan Oglesby sprinted along the wing leaving his marker for dead. He squared it to captain Darren Hanslip and his rasping drive was turned over the bar acrobatically by Saynor.

With Nostell holding firm at the back, the Owls struggled to break them down and even with a change in personal they still struggled. Louis Grant, Caine Winfarrah and Daniel all made an appearance taking off Robertson, Kingston and Oglesby.

With just 20 minutes left, Nostell keeper Saynor was called into action not once but twice. Firstly, he had to clear the ball after Winfarrah played in a delightful diagonal ball only for the keeper to punch clear. Then, from a corner Saynor had to think quickly as Cooper directed a head goal wards but he was on hand to save the goal.

Nostell should have further increased their lead but was not clinical enough in front of goal as substitute Billy Mole managed to miscue his shot after Max Elliot had sprinted 45 yards with the ball creating a fantastic chance.

As the clocked ticked down, tempers boiled over as Winn was fouled on the far side. Pushing and shoving ensued between the players and the referee adjudged that Flett and Mascall were due a yellow card each. However, Elliot was already on a yellow card from a previous foul in the first half and the referee had no option but to send the Nostell captain off for a second bookable offence for his involvement.

With just stoppage time remaining the Owls offered very little in the last few minutes and as the final whistle was blown, the Owls knew that Nostell had done a “smash and grab” job on them.