RAMSBOTTOM's opening game of the season had few moments to remember in a first half that can only be described as uneventful.

On 11 minutes a Freeport striker John Riches was brought down in the box only to place his spot kick wide of Keith Neild's left hand post. Both sides struggled to find any sort of rhythmn as they constantly gave the ball away.

With four minutes to the half time break the Rams went in front when a well-struck shot from Mark Hayes found the Fleetwood net.

At the start of the second half Fleetwood went all-out for an equaliser as Jason Weller's shot was charged down and Steve Newton and Riches both fired wide of the target.

Ramsbottom had introduced Brendan O'Shaughnessy for Chris Lomas in midfield but still looked disjointed against a Fleetwood side who were energetic but far from impressive.

On 75 minutes Ramsbottom replaced Mark Hayes with David Yorke-Robinson as they looked for a second goal to kill the game off, but the substitutes failed to change anything and the lacklustre performance rumbled on.

With the game entering stoppage time Ramsbottom grabbed a second goal when O'Shaughnessy showed good skills in playing the ball into the danger area where Russell Brierley got in front of his marker to score with a clinical finish.

Not a great start for the Rams but a winning one bringing a sequence of four first game defeats since their promotion to Division One in 1997.

RESULT: RAMSBOTTOM UTD... 2 FLEETWOOD FREEPORT... 0