Stoke Ramblers came out on top after an eight goal thriller at Bradeley Development Centre.
After last weeks last minute 3-2 victory over Stafford Rangers got the season off to a flier the Ramblers welcomed Motley Crewe to their new home and the match was a thrilling end to end encounter throughout.
The Ramblers were awarded a penalty by the linesman after 15 minutes but the visiting keeper threw himself to his right to brilliantly deny Alex Bradford, before beating the kick taker to the loose ball and pushing the ball behind for a corner. Bradford nearly made amends at the corner but his near post header flashed across goal and just went wide of the back post.
Motley made the most of the saved spot kick and went ahead shortly after, a well timed run allowing the centre forward to go through on goal before slotting past the keeper.
Stoke turned the game around minutes before half time when two quickfire goals saw the hosts lead at the interval. Firstly Lee Jaquiss controlled the ball inside the box before finding the back of the net from 12 yards before an early contender for goal of the season as Lee Tawn clipped the ball over a defenders head, drove forward before unleashing a bullet like effort from 25 yards that flew just inside the far post, a shot that any keeper in the world would have struggled to keep out.
The second half continued to be a goal fest as Jaquiss added two more well taken goals, the last a rifled effort into the roof of the net from twenty yards, to complete his hat trick whilst Motley scored a second which was initially ruled offside before a conversation between linesman and referee resulted in the correct decision of a goal being awarded. The decisions continued to be made and Motley were awarded a penalty when their striker was caught by Ramblers skipper Craig Taylor as he attempted to get past the centre back.
Another well struck penalty followed but Ramblers keeper Chris Wollington was able to match his Crewe counterpart by getting his arm to the spot kick and diverting the ball over the bar.
Tawn added a fifth for the home side when he controlled a long ball forward from Taylor before clipping the ball over the keeper to seemingly kill the game although Crewe pulled a goal back to keep the home side on their toes throughout the closing stages.