Worthing boss Barry Lloyd was forced to play three up front because of injuries to Wes Lopez and Paul Rapps.

But the switch paid dividends as Rebels thrashed Ashford Town 5-0 at Woodside Road.

All three front men, skipper Paul Kennett, who converted a penalty following a foul on Steve Sargent, Mark Knee and Gavin Jones, were on the scoresheet while Ben Carrington drilled in a cracker with his left foot as Worthing eased up after racing into a 4-0 half-time lead.

Midfielder Tom Graves celebrated his debut with the goal of the game, a rasping shot from the edge of the box.

Lloyd said: "I was a bit disappointed that it got a bit scrappy in the second half, but when you are 4-0 up at half-time the game is over and all I asked the lads for then was a clean sheet.

"It was a great start to the season so I'm delighted, but one swallow doesn't make a summer and there are some hard games ahead of us."

Rebels visit Leatherhead tomorrow (7.45pm).

The only Sussex side to lose on the opening day were Horsham, whose assistant manager Ali Rennie felt were hard done by as they went down 3-1 at Dulwich Hamlet.

Hornets paid for missing first-half chances when they fell behind just before half-time to a goal from Nick Leach and the visitors left themselves with a mountain to climb when Junior Kadi struck from 25 yards to make it 2-0 on 68 minutes.

Boss John Maggs threw caution to the wind by playing Gavin Geddes, Rob Collins and Dave Flemming in a three-man strike force and Flemming pulled a goal back when he robbed a defender before scoring from an acute angle, but Steffan Ball made the game safe near the end.

Rennie said: "We should have scored three times before their first goal.

"We're disappointed with the result but not despondant about the performance. There were quite a few positives in the way we played."

Horsham entertain Met Police in their Queen Street opener tomorrow (7.45pm).