Only one match survived on the opening day of the Egremont and District Sunday League as, in glorious Sunday morning sunshine at The Wok, the match between Thornhill FC and The Royal Oak turned out to be a cracker.

Thornhill had been up at the crack of dawn to prepare the pitch, which looked crisp and lush with freshly-painted markings and relatively little mud, and the home side started the better, piling pressure on Royal Oak who defended bravely as Thornhill dominated possession.

But the resistance was always going to fall through at some point under the sustained onslaught, and what followed was a feast of goals for Thornhill.

Carl Lofthouse had no rust to knock off in the early stages of the season, knocking in five goals on the opening day in an impressive showing.

There was also a brace for Jack Harrison and one apiece for Andrew Begbie, Neil Woodburn, Ryan Benson and Jordan Bowness, with Thornhill goalkeeper James Dolan reduced to the role of a mere spectator for much of the match.

Royal Oak did have a couple of chances to get on the scoresheet, but stalwart defending from man of the match David Raynor prevented any real trouble for Dolan.

Royal Oak never gave up and battled on until referee Joe Fell’s final whistle, but the 11-0 scoreline reflected what had very much been a one-sided opening game, and a big win for Thornhill.

The weekend's other scheduled fixtures, which would have seen Bransty Rangers Sunday take on FC Cosmos, Mirehouse face Lowca Pirates and a derby match between St Bees Athletic and St Bees FC, all fell to the heavy Saturday and overnight rain and had to be called off.