King's Lynn 1-3 Stocksbridge

The Walks welcomed an opening-day crowd of 1,047 supporters

King's Lynn suffered a 3-1 defeat against Stocksbridge in Carl Heggs' first competitive game in charge.

More than 1,000 fans at The Walks saw Gareth Sheldon give King's Lynn the lead within five minutes.

Stocksbridge equalised before half-time, then Alvin Riley and Richard Stirrup's second-half goals confirmed the Linnets' fate.

Heggs told BBC Radio Norfolk: "I've no idea what's happened. We've absolutely crumbled. Shocking. I'm embarrassed."

He added: "I've got us organised, I've got strong players in the right areas, and we've just crumbled.

"The back four were shocking, the midfield non-existent, apart from Sheldon's goal and Owen Storey's run. I feel embarrassed."

Heggs also admitted he forced his team to face up to King's Lynn supporters in the bar after the game and apologise for their performance.

"I hate cowards, that's my biggest thing. You can give your all and be rubbish, I'll accept that every day of the week.

"I've told them 'you go in that bar, you hold your heads up and you accept what's going to come your way.'

"They can go in there and feel uncomfortable like I did in my technical area for 90 minutes."