FC Málaga City led early in the game through George Jermy, but were condemned to a 3-1 defeat against CD Mijas to start the new season.
After such a long wait for the campaign to begin, the home side couldn’t have asked for a much better start when George Jermy found the net from close range with four minutes on the clock.
The visitors levelled on the stroke of half-time and went on to score two further goals in the second-half to take the three points home with them.
Captain Sean Morris admitted that complacency can’t creep in as teams will punish and said the goal right before-half time changed the game.
“That’s what you hope for, that we get that early goal and it gives your team a bit of life and people don’t get complacent,” Morris said.
“We’ve got a lot of people learning what this league is like. The experience of playing men's football in Spain is a different experience and you can never settle, you can’t take your foot off because the game can turn very quickly, as we saw.
“They get their chance. They get their goal right before the half and the whole feeling of the game changes. We never really got going again. It was disappointing for us to be in control, in command, and let that slip away.”
Head coach Adrián Domínguez handed full debuts to a number of players in the squad, one of which made an immediate impact as Jacob Thompson’s neat through ball released Kwinda down the right side.
The forward done well to get a yard on his marker and cross low to the back post for Jermy, whose initial shot was saved.
Lucas De Paula had two efforts remarkably blocked on the line before the Jermy powered the rebound home at the back post.
Mijas worked their way into the game, grabbing a foothold around the midway stage, and went on to create some good openings.
Lapworth was called into action on 41 minutes to deny a certain goal, racing off his line to close down the Mijas striker and make a strong save.
The pressure from the visitors took its toll, though, and levelled right on half-time. Lapworth made a terrific double save two minutes into the second-half, but was helpless just a few minutes later when the visitors took the lead in the game.
Kwinda and Liam Bickett saw their efforts saved before the hour mark and, after Nicky Guyo had a goal ruled out for offside, the home side had a great opening to draw level.
Substitute Nestor Jimenez skipped past the full-back with a delightful piece of skill and picked out Dani Dos Santos at the back post, but his effort went agonisingly across goal and inches wide of the far post.
The away side scored a controversial third goal on 72 minutes, when a cross from the left appeared to go behind for a goal-kick. The FCMC back line stopped and Mijas’ No.17 was stood at the back post for a tap-in, which doubled their lead.
FCMC continued to press for a way back into the game, Guyo was denied at the near post and the forward had another effort kept out on 90 minutes. It wasn’t to be for the hosts on the opening day of the season and they travel to CD Atlético de Marbella Balompié next weekend.
FC Málaga City: Freddie Lapworth, Jacob Thompson, Dino Leddie, Angel Arreola, George Jermy, Lucas De Paula, Liam Bickett, Sean Morris, Nicky Guyo, Cameron Williams, Kwinda
Substitutes: Alvaro Mata, James Dawes, Dani Dos Santos, Ivan Parra, Nestor Jimenez, Abubakar Moffat, Charly Mallmann