He grabbed a hat-trick to hand the Storks their fourth successive opening day win.

And it gave Graham Howarth the perfect start to his return as manager.

Padiham have been renowned for starting brightly in the past few years, with a 2-0 win at home to Cheadle last season preceded by a 1-0 success at Bootle in 2006.

The previous year saw Chadderton demolished 4-0 at the Arbories, following on from a creditable 1-1 draw with eventual runaway champions Cammell Laird.

And they will hope they can maintain their good form this time around, despite some less than impressive results in pre-season.

A wet afternoon at the Arbories saw the home side dominate proceedings, taking the lead after just four minutes.

Paul Walker's diagonal pass dropped over the Ashton full back, allowing Neil Almond to chest the ball down and volley under Steve Whiston.

Almond made it 2-0 when a cleverly worked free kick by Anthony McCluskey found the Storks forward, who made no mistake with his finish.

And eight minutes before the break, Almond turned provider to set up Smith, who rounded the keeper before firing home.

But almost immediately, they found the net again, with Smith's 25-yard drive beating Whiston to give Padiham a 4-0 interval lead.

After the break, the Storks did not press home their clear superiority, and although Peter Corvino and Smith were unfortunate with early chances, the pace of the game dropped.

Ashton saved some face with a consolation goal three minutes from time by Paul Veal, but then conceded at the other end when a deliberate handball by Colin Wilson on the line led to him being sent off.

And Smith duly stepped up to complete his hat-trick, and send the home fans home happy.

The Storks will hope to continue that form into Tuesday night's game at Oldham Town (kick-off 7-45 p.m.).