Alex Ullmann is adamant his Leeds Maccabi side will bounce back from their nightmare opening day defeat after the MJSL new boys were handed a brutal battering.

Leeds were left reeling after being hit for eight against a rampant South Manchester 2nd as Neil Collins' men ran riot.

Jack Lee and Mikey Levitan both bagged hat-tricks for South, while Aden Levin added a brace to make it a miserable return to the MJSL for the Yorkshire side.

But Ullmann insists Leeds will still be a force this season and says the return of key players will give them an extra edge as they look to avenge their horror showing.

"It wasn't the start to the season we were planning of course, but there were some positives," said Ullmann.

"We've got lots of players still carrying injuries and quite a few away on holiday, so a lot of the boys were playing out of position on Sunday.

"It's virgin territory for us and it's only the first game so I'm confident we'll improve and get stronger as the season goes on."

Ullman was full of praise for South Manchester whom he believes capitalised on the inexperience of his team. "They played very well and played some very good football but we lacked match experience because we were forced into playing a very young side," he said.

"We know that it wasn't the ideal start but it's all new to us so we'll improve for sure."

The task does not get any easier for Leeds as they

face a testing home clash against highly-fancied Haroldeans.

The Merseysiders opened their season with the 4-0 thrashing of Republic of Mancunia 2nd with Josh Silverberg, Bobby Abrams and Cabral Christian all on target.

"We know it's going to be a tough game against Haroldeans and we've had some good feedback on them," added Ullmann.

South Manchester boss Collins is now hoping his side can build on their first win of the season by claiming maximum points against an in-form Sporting JLGB.

He said: "We're going to be missing five players so it's going to be a bit uncertain against a team which caused us major problems last year.

"But this is an odd season and anything could happen."

Strikes from Sam Calmonson, Jake Bentwood, Marc Magid, Jake Kelly and Jake Rubens saw reigning champions Manchester Maccabi 3rd thump Broughton 5-1.

Striker Moishe Hasid, who this week joined Sporting JLGB, gave Republic of Mancunia a hard-fought win over Crumpsall.