Bradford Park Avenue Vs Grimsby Borough: Match Preview

Bradford Park Avenue Vs Grimsby Borough: Match Preview

Borough make the trip to high-flying Bradford Park Avenue on Friday evening for their latest Northern Premier League Division One East fixture, which takes place at the Horsfall Community Stadium (19:45 kick-off).

It’s sure to be a difficult test against one of the step four promotion favourites, and a team who have started the season in fine fashion in both league and cup.

The clash will be both side’s third match in the space of six days, with the Wilderness Boys and the Avenue looking to stay unbeaten in September come the final whistle.

Borough have worked through what was a difficult start to the campaign to take four points from their previous two NPL matches; a 2-0 Bank Holiday victory at Lincoln United followed up by a goalless draw against Guisborough Town on home soil.

Tom Claisse then named a much-changed team to face a youthful Gainsborough Trinity side on Tuesday in the Lincolnshire FA Senior County Cup, his side coming away comfortable 7-0 victors.

That made it three consecutive clean sheets for the Wilderness Boys, while the injury situation that blighted the opening weeks of the season appears to be gradually easing, too.

Goalkeeper Heath Richardson and midfielder Josh Venney have returned to the first-team fold recently following their respective knocks, while Josh Clarke played an hour against the Holy Blues in midweek as he builds up his fitness following a short spell on the sidelines.

However, the quartet of Edwin Essel, Charlie Burden-Whittleton, Anane Wireko, and Mason Couch remain unavailable with longer-term injuries.

George Burton and Bailey Wright played key roles in the Lincs Cup victory over Trinity, and will be pushing for a place in the matchday squad on Friday, while Charlie Clements and Jack Barlow will both have benefitted from the run-out, the pair each netting a brace in the win.

New man Luke Ayris has looked sharp in wide areas since his arrival from Bottesford Town last week, and his pace could be a real asset for Claisse’s men on the counter in a match where the home side will expect to have plenty of the ball.

Bradford Park Avenue will have firm aspirations of promotion come the spring, having just missed out in the play-offs last time round.

Manager Craig Elliott has one of the strongest squads in the division at his disposal, and that quality and depth has seen the West Yorkshire outfit get off to a superb start to the 2026/27 campaign.

Currently sitting in second position, having picked up 13 points from a possible 15 in the Eastern section of the NPL thus far, they’re just two points behind leaders Liversedge, who have played a game more.

The Avenue opened up with a 3-1 victory at Guisborough Town, before seeing off Stocksbridge Park Steels (2-1) four days later. A thumping 4-0 FA Cup win at Mossley followed, before yet another emphatic (4-1) success over Hallam.

While Elliott’s men would exit the FA Trophy at Stalybridge Celtic, they quickly bounced back by picking up a point against an Ossett United side that had also begun the season well.

An impressive FA Cup First Qualifying Round display at recently relegated National League North outfit Curzon Ashton resulted in a Kareem Hassan-Smith double guiding his side to a 2-1 win, before the Green Army then beat near neighbours Silsden by two goals to nil in midweek.

The former Football League club, who were playing at step two themselves just four years ago, held on to many of the key players that went so close to promotion last time out, with the likes of defender and captain Jameel Ible, midfielder Prince Ekpolo, full-back Charlie Winfield and winger Louie Chorlton staying on for another year.

Ex-Scunthorpe United, Accrington Stanley, and Chorley striker Marcus Carver is one of the top strikers at this level, and he’s another who's opted to remain at the Horsfall Stadium, as have former Cleethorpes Town forwards Ben Andreucci and Adam Haw, along with the aforementioned Hassan-Smith and experienced creative midfielder Adriano Moke, who includes York City, Wrexham, and Cambridge United among his previous clubs.

During the summer, former Boston United and Buxton boss Elliott brought in ex-Owls midfielder Brad Abbott, along with Matlock Town pair Declan Lambton and Jake Thompson.

Strikers Robbie Fox and Bailey Thompson are two more new faces in the white and green of the Avenue, as are seasoned defenders Scott Duxbury and Rudy Misembo, who add further higher league nous and guile to a Bradford Park Avenue unit that appears to be the strongest they’ve had at the club in some time; one that’ll fancy themselves to be up among the frontrunners throughout.

The hosts come out on top in the head-to-head record between the sides, winning three of the four clashes over the past two campaigns.

Borough will take confidence from their visit to West Yorkshire last season, however, as late goals from Alex Flett and Tom Sawyer saw them snatch a point at the death after coming back from 2-0 down.

It’s undoubtedly one of the tougher assignments that Tom Claisse’s men will face this season, but they’ll head into it in a positive frame of mind following some promising results and performances of late. Hopefully that recent form is something that continues, as they look to begin the weekend in style.