TWO goals in the opening eight minutes, the first from James Rowe and the second from skipper Gareth Heath, two of the few remaining players from last season's squad, paved the way for an opening day victory at Malvern Town on Saturday, to get Nicky Smith's managerial career off to the best possible start.
For Smith and assistant Chris Tracey it was a fine reward for their hard work in getting a team together, with two of their most recent signings, defender Curtis Hayes-Brown and goalkeeper Liam Jones, making significant contributions on their debuts,
particularly in the second half.
There are plenty of long journeys for the Suffolk side this season but this was the longest, with a round trip of 360 miles.
But it did not deter the travelling fans.
In fact they outnumbered the home supporters in the meagre attendance of 91 and they certainly made themselves heard in the Langland Stadium with the Malvern Hills making a picturesque backdrop.
After Malvern forced a corner straight from the start AFC dominated the early minutes against a strong wind.
The home defence looked at sixes and sevens as Rowe latched on to Neil Cogger's through-ball to open his account with five minutes on the clock.
Three minutes later, after Marcus Hunt broke up a dangerous Malvern attack, the home defence was caught cold for the second time by a fine build-up which ended with Heath hammering low into the net to double AFC's lead.
A minute later Rowe came close to adding a third when he slid in to get on the end of a left-wing cross only to see his effort narrowly miss the target.
It had been a purple patch for AFC but it was not to last.
The home side reduced the deficit after 14 minutes when Chris Allen took advantage of a lucky rebound to send a left-wing cross into the area where Darren Andrews rose to send a glancing header into the corner of the net.
Midway through the half Malvern forced three corners in quick succession and from the last the on-loan Jones brought off a fine reflex save.
AFC forced their first flag kick after 33 minutes, which came to nothing, but Steve Joyce kept up the pressure with a long-range shot that went narrowly wide.
Nathan Speed then set up Heath who cut inside and unleashed a powerful shot that struck a defender.
The second half failed to produce any more goals but there were chances at both ends.
Two AFC corners went unrewarded before Malvern's Danny Jones was gifted with a chance to equalise after 55 minutes.
The full article contains 449 words and appears in Suffolk Free Press newspaper.
