IT HAS been a summer of frustration off the pitch but after 90 minutes of the new season, those worrying feelings have died down.

As always, results will dictate the mood of fans and so an 87th-minute winner from Yasir Kasim was a welcome sight I’m sure for Luke Williams and Lee Power.

The build-up to the opening game wasn’t your standard routine of waiting to see what the new recruits were like as most were still making their way through the door to check out the place for themselves.

The first signing was on Friday and it was a familiar face in Michael Doughty, who has joined on a season-long loan from QPR.

To get Doughty is a big coup for the coming season after his previous spell with the club was a big success.

Another loan signing is defender Lloyd Jones from Liverpool, who had his 2015-16 season ruined by an early injury at Blackpool and will hope for better in his coming campaign at SN1.

It was a move that had to be sorted, with the back line needing a boost in numbers, and hopefully it’s another gem plucked from the Premier League.

Who knows – another Jack Stephens or Jordan Turnbull?

Also, this search for a striker since the departure of Nicky Ajose to Charlton finally came to fruition.

The man in question is Luke Norris, a £150k signing from Gillingham. Norris isn’t a proven goalscorer but is a young talent which fits the Power mould.

It might be expecting too much of the young frontman to say he is Ajose's replacement, especially with Power saying he hopes to add another striker to the squad, but he’ll have his chance I’m sure.

With the off-pitch situation slowly sorting itself out, hopefully we can spend our season focusing on the pitch.

Starting with a win is obviously a great way to kick-off the new season but what’s also important is that it wasn’t a fortunate three points but a result that was deserved, in front of more than 7000 Town fans in the County Ground.

It’s a good start, with a long way to go, but fingers crossed for a season spent away from the wrong end of the table.

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