This time around it was only a Lee Ashton goal that separated the two sides, but that was enough to earn the three points in the 38 degree heat.

The Belswans’ scoreless outing wasn’t through lack of trying however – their young striker Cameron Lodge was a constant thorn in Cooks Hills’ side for most of the ninety minutes.

In the end it was only through the stellar efforts of Cookers’ ‘keeper Jake Hamilton that he was denied, after two chances from Belmont Swansea’s danger-man nearly found the back of the net.

Ashton, one of four players to score in last year’s grand final, proved more clinical as he latched on to a through ball in the seventh minute to net the deciding goal of the match.

Belmont-Swansea’s head coach Josh Rufo revealed the team had “already put the defeat out of mind”, and said a number of factors played into the result in the squad’s opening outing.

“Week one, round one you’re not going to win the competition, so we’ll build on that performance,” Rufo said.

“We did have six first-grade starters out, so knowing that and seeing how well the players worked there were a lot of positives.”

Rufo confirmed the missing starters, which includes new star recruit Dave Hodgson, would be bedded in across the next handful of rounds.

Read: NNSWF to review weather policy after match labelled "dangerous"

The Belswans coach was also disappointed the match went ahead despite the rising mercury, and stated the “blockbluster match of the round” should have been played in “better conditions”.

“You’ve got two of the better teams in the competition playing, and it’s promoted as this blockbluster, so if it’s in good conditions you can see better football,” Rufo said.

“That said, I think we have a few things to work on – our shape and structure look good at times, but that obviously needs a lot more fine tuning. Once we get match fit and get regular minutes we’ll look a lot better.”

Also on Sunday, Wallsend were the only other team to collect three points as a Matt Williams double, and a goal from Ty Goldsmith, earned them a 3-1 win over Toronto-Awaba.

Read: Undefeated Steelers loom on the horizon for Newcastle Knights

Thornton and Cessnock played to a scoreless draw at Turner Park, while West Wallsend and Singleton battled to a 1-1 stand-still.

The points were shared between the Strikers and the Bluebells with Joseph Civello opening the scoring early for Singleton, and Jarrod Oliveri answering back for the home side.

South Cardiff and New Lambton had their match postponed due to heat concerns on Sunday afternoon.

Kahibah had the bye in the opening round.

LEAGUE ONE TABLE: Wallsend (3), Cooks Hill (3), West Wallsend (1), Singleton (1), Thornton (1), Cessnock (1), Kahibah (0), South Cardiff (0), New Lambton (0), Belmont Swansea (0), Toronto Awaba (0).