RAMSBOTTOM went down to a 3-0 defeat against Marine in their first home game of the new Northern Premier League West Division campaign on Tuesday night.

Off the field, things felt as if they had returned to normal and the home crowd were hoping for a good performance from The Rams on the back of the opening 0-0 draw at City of Liverpool on Saturday.

Despite the hopes of the fans, the reality was that this would be a tough test for the hosts, with Marine being an excellent outfit who made headlines for their FA Cup run last season.

The away side started the stronger of the two, pressing high with great intent, testing Ollie Martin with a fantastic curling effort in the first minute.

The visitors continued to apply the pressure, not giving Rammy any time on the ball and not allowing them to create anything of any real danger in the attacking third.

Marine found themselves through on goal again but their attack was halted from an on-rushing Martin who committed a tactical foul just on the edge of the 18-yard box, picking up the first booking of the evening, with many believing he was very lucky to stay on the pitch as the referee showed him a yellow card.

The visitors found the breakthrough on the cusp of half-time with a lovely effort struck into the bottom right corner by Ben Hughes.

Rammy started the second half with more energy but their momentum was soon lost when Marine grabbed their second goal of the night through Neil Kengni, who whipped the ball into the far corner, not giving Rams number one Martin any chance.

The confidence of the away side subsequently continued to grow and they kept the pressure on Rammy, therefore, forcing them into making an array of mistakes across the pitch.

A couple of second-half substitutions for Ramsbottom were unable to make the desired change the manager would have liked and the continued pressure from Marine resulted in the third being added late on by their skipper Niall Cummins.

Ultimately the visitors were just too good for the hosts and they ran out deservedly 3-0 winners.

The opening stalemate at City of Liverpool saw both sides rue missed chances.

The Rams came the closest in the first half-hour with a wonderful cross from Eddie Cooper which found the head of Domaine Rouse, but Rouse could only guide his header onto the crossbar.

The hosts then had a goal ruled out for offside.

The game was level at 0-0 at half-time despite protests from the home side, with many of the fans believing that Rammy had really been let off the hook.

In the second period it was Rammy who looked the more likely to grab a winner but rarely tested home keeper Theo Roberts. Substitute Joel Earps had the best chance of the game for Ramsbottom in the final few minutes finding himself 12 yards from goal but somehow he managed to blaze the ball over the bar.

Rammy will be hoping to turn their fortunes around and give their season a kickstart at the weekend when they travel up to Barnoldswick Town in the FA Cup preliminary round on Saturday.