KINGTON Town picked up where they left off last season to announce their arrival in Division One of the West Midlands (Regional League) with a confident 3-0 home win over Bartestree, WRITES MIKE BERRY.

Last season’s Division Two champions, unbeaten in the league since November 1, netted twice in the last five minutes to see off a Bartestree outfit who played for the best part of an hour with ten men after ex-Hereford man Dean Clarke was sent off on his debut.

Kington goalkeeper Zeke Vivian had already made important saves from Carl Morgan and Tom Bendall before Clarke saw red for a rash challenge on Ryan Newton, who limped out of the game.

Bartestree boss Chris Hayes admitted: “We have no complaints with the decision but there was no malice and Dean was gutted.

"I felt we were on top at the time, and it was a turning point.

"We gave a good account of ourselves and our attitude was first rate.”

Kington broke the deadlock on 48 minutes when Brian Dyer lobbed Luke Brimfield and though the home side gained the upper hand against the ten men, it took two late goals to seal the points.

On 85 minutes the foraging Tom Parry turned in a debut goal against his former club from Joe Mayglothing’s inviting cross and two minutes later Jordan Cooper laid the third on a plate for the industrious Nick Evans.

But Kington’s star man was 15-year-old debutant Fred Newton, who started at right-back, then moved to left-back in a revamp forced by his brother Ryan’s withdrawal.

Newton was the recipient of Kington Badminton Club's Annual Challenge Cup in April for captaining the Herefordshire Under-15 football team through a successful season.

Kington boss Shaun Harris admitted: “We had a poor pre-season so it was great to kick off with a win.

"It was pretty even until the sending off, but we still have players to come in and can get a lot better.

"I was really chuffed for Tom Parry to score on his debut - and against his former club.”

Lads Club opened with a 1-0 home defeat to newly promoted Darlaston, going down to a cruel last-minute goal.

Matt Maturi dazzled on the left as Lads Club bossed the first half, but they had cause to dispute some dubious refereeing decisions.

They had a penalty appeal waved aside when Tom Harding went down in the box, and although Darlaston came more into things, the game looked set to remain goalless until Darlaston's dramatic late winner.

Lads Club player-manager Danny Moon said:?“The players worked their socks off and I can’t fault the commitment.

"We have plenty of quality in the squad but we didn’t create enough and our passing was below par.”