Hucknall Town made a winning start to life at the brand-new RM Stadium on Saturday (7 January).

The Yellows secured a 3-2 win over Harrowby United to delight a partisan crowd of nearly 400 who turned out to watch the historic first league match at the ground.

Before the game, there were emotional scenes as a minute's applause was held for Hucknall resident and non-league blogger Malcolm Storer, who died last week after a short illness.

After this, the game kicked off, marking Hucknall's first home game since October last year. It was a scrappy start, punctuated with free-kicks as both teams struggled to settle into a rhythm.

It was the visitors who posed the initial threat from set pieces with two good chances from corners in the opening 20 minutes, one of which led to a shot having to be cleared off the goal line by the Hucknall defence.

Sam Sims, Aaron Lamb, and Kieran Knight all went close for Hucknall but they all failed to test the Harrowby keeper.

Then, with just under ten minutes of the half remaining, the hosts were dealt a blow as Harrowby took the lead. Jack Arbon was left unmarked at the back post and swept the ball into the top corner.

The visitors held on to lead at halftime but whatever manager Andy Ingle said to his players during the interval clearly worked as they started the second half firmly on the front foot.

It took just three minutes of the second half for them to level the scores as Knight turned in Craig Westcarr's cross to finally give the home faithful something to shout about.

Hucknall began to dominate the game but couldn't capitalise at that point and were lucky not to fall behind again just after the hour mark as Louis Kinnerley was forced to make a sharp stop to keep the scores level.

However, just a few minutes later Hucknall struck with two goals in the space of three minutes to seemingly take the game away from Harrowby.

Lamb turned in the rebound after Westcarr's effort had struck the post before Kai Wilson added a third goal.

It looked as if Hucknall would cruise to a routine victory from this point but when Joe Butler was sent to the sin bin for dissent with six minutes remaining, the visitors saw an opportunity to get back into the game.

Just three minutes later, they made their man advantage count as Elliot King rose highest in a crowded box to nod home and reduce the deficit to one.

Buoyed by this goal Harrowby pressed for an equaliser and came very close to denying Hucknall victory as they hit the post just before the game ticked into stoppage time.

The final whistle brought to an end an anxious few minutes for most in the stadium but was greeted with cheers as Hucknall secured the three points they'd hoped for to keep themselves firmly in the play-off places.

The Hucknall fans don't have long to wait to see their team back in action as they play again at The RM Stadium on Wednesday night (11 January) when they face Bourne Town who are currently second in the league.