Alton manager Kevin Adair was pleased with his side’s discipline after they beat Camberley Town 1-0 in the Combined Counties Premier Division South.
Owen Tanner’s second-half goal was enough to give the home side the three points at Anstey Park Enclosure.
“It’s a good three points and a clean sheet,” said Adair. “The first home league game of the season is always a good one to win. Sometimes you've got to get the result and that's what we've done.”
Camberley’s Tom Wensley was sent to the sin bin for dissent on the half-time whistle, and Alton made their numerical advantage count on 51 minutes when Tanner drilled his right-foot shot into the back of the net from close range.
“They (Camberley) started the second half with ten, which gave us a chance to be a little bit braver and move one of the midfielders further forward,” said Adair.
“Doing that, we gained the ball higher up the pitch – which we didn't do in the first half. We gained a couple of chances and probably should have scored one and then Owen smashes one in. He's been really good for us in a new role.
“Once we got that I think we were a bit more comfortable – we controlled the game for a bit. They (Camberley) changed the way they played, went three at the back, moved another one forward and went a little bit longer. They'd spent most of the game smashing our balls out the ground to slow it down at 0-0. They wanted to speed the game up and we were under pressure.
“After a ten-minute period we controlled the game again and Adam Poynter ran them (Camberley) ragged. He got on the ball and stretched them a bit. We were pretty good. To be fair it was a disciplined performance. I’m happy to get the first three points.”
Alton substitute Liam Marshall impressed with a bright performance off the bench, and Adair was delighted with his impact.
“There's no doubting his quality,” said Adair. “He's unplayable at times. If we can keep working on him and getting little bits of his game a little bit better then unfortunately he probably won't be with us very long.
“If we can give someone a platform to move up higher that's brilliant, but if he can do things for us throughout this season and help us achieve what we want then brilliant.”
Alton have had a high turnover of players this summer, but Adair is happy with how his squad is shaping up.
“We’ve got a new group,” said Adair. “I think they're a better group than we've had at this stage of any season so far, in terms of quality.
“Normally it takes a little bit longer for us to find players of this quality, so we've been able to work with them a little bit longer than we normally do and it shows.
“There's some technically good players and we've got the opportunity to make them better and the team better.”