‘Perfect’ start for Harvest – but even an 11-0 romp isn’t enough to take them top of their Hampshire League table after one game!

Hounvio bagged four goals as Harvest hammered Michelmersh & Timsbury 11-0 on what boss Steve Harris described as a ‘perfect’ day.

It was Harvest’s biggest ever HPL win, beating their 8-1 caning of Silchester last season.

Hounvio, along with Churchill Chia Titor, joined Harvest in the summer after relocating to the Portsmouth area from Essex for work reasons.

‘We were just relentless,’ said Harris. ‘We didn’t take our foot off the gas.

‘It’s hard to say if they (Michelmersh) were poor because we just didn’t let them play.

‘The defence kept a clean sheet, all the midfielders got an assist, and the five strikers all scored.’

Despite their huge win, Harvest aren’t top of the embryonic table - QK Southampton thrashed AFC Netley 13-0, Krzysick Krysztofowic scoring a triple hat-trick!

‘We won’t get carried away,’ said Harris. ‘There’s another team who know how to put a team to the sword.

‘We’ve got QK (on September 18 at Front Lawn) - that’s already looking a big game.

Subs Harry Byrne (2) and Michael Granger also netted against Michelmersh alongside Chia Titor, Harry Leigh, Callum Harman and Jay Kane.

Sub Zach McGregor (2), Bobby Read and Nathan New scored as the newly-formed Harvest Reserve side won their Mid-Solent League Division 1 curtain-raiser 4-0 against Portchester Rovers.

Meon Milton came from 0-2 down to claim a point on their Hampshire Premier League debut.

Trailing early on at home to Upham, last season’s Mid-Solent champions reduced the arrears through a Sam Holt penalty.

Despite losing both striker Dale Holmes and Ben Johns to first half injuries, Meon were level before the interval when Jagjit Singh headed in a corner.

‘They were a well drilled, organised side,’ said Meon boss Bickram Singh.

‘It was a pretty even game, either side could have nicked it. We could have won it, but a draw was a fair result.’

Singh said he could already see big differences in the standard compared to the MSL.

‘Every time you go up a level it’s a bit more competitive and people care more. And you have to care, otherwise there’s no point in playing.

‘That’s why we want to creep up the leagues, to make it more serious.’

Charlie Taylor fired a second-half hat-trick as Whiteley Wanderers made a winning start to life in the HPL.

They came from behind to beat AFC Petersfield 5-2 in their Division 1 South East curtain-raiser.

After taking the lead via an own goal, Whiteley fell behind before Matt Taylor headed in a Martin St John corner.

Charlie Taylor - ‘an absolute force’, according to boss Steve Thomas - then took centre stage after the restart.

Wanderers included two summer signings - ex-Hythe keeper Anton Blake and one-time Infinity right back Joe Gigg - while midfielder Sam Yardley made his competitive return from an ACL injury.

‘We made a nervous start, but once the boys realised they were there for the taking we played really well,’ Thomas remarked.