An early strike by Kingsley Adu-Gyamfi, a wonderful free kick by Lewis Bergin and a goal by youngster Jack Bromfield turned out to be enough for the home side to earn a victory despite them experiencing a couple of nervy moments throughout the game.

The hosts made a fantastic start to the encounter and, with the first clear cut chance on 11 minutes Adu-Gyamfi slotted the ball into the bottom left hand corner after finding his way inside the area.

However, the Grove's lead only lasted three minutes as Winsford's Sam Madeley cut in from the left and fired his effort into the top left-hand corner of the goal to draw the Blues level.

In stoppage time at the end of the first half, Kidsgrove retook the lead when Bergin curled a free-kick from 25 yards into the top right-hand corner, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.

At the break, Scott Dundas made six changes. One of them saw Ruben Wiggins-Thomas come on and, he could have had a penalty on 50 minutes when he was brought down under a challenge, but the referee waved away the appeals from the Grove players.

Then just after the hour mark, young midfielder Bromfield added a third when he slid the ball into the bottom right hand corner after getting on to the end of a Wiggins-Thomas pullback.

Despite Kidsgrove being in control, Winsford got a goal back with 10 minutes remaining when Madeley bundled the ball home from close range after latching on to the ball that struck the left-hand post.

Even though it was a nervy final period for the Grove, the defence held firm meaning that Kidsgrove came away from the first game of the season with a victory.

After the game, Dundas said “It was a good workout for the lads. We had four or five formations throughout the 90 minutes, so it is just about them gelling.

“It is about us seeing what we can do with the lads that we have got, and I am pleased that they got a few goals."

The manager also went onto praise the performance of 19 year old Jack Bromfield.

He said: “I thought young Jack did well when he came on in midfield.

“He set the tone for the second half and, I think we could have had two or three right after half time, but he did well for us.”