Grimsby Borough 0-3 Liversedge: Match Report

Grimsby Borough 0-3 Liversedge: Match Report

The Wilderness Boys welcomed newly promoted Liversedge to the Technica Home of Boro on Saturday in their opening home league fixture of the 2026/27 Northern Premier League Division One East season. However, it turned into an afternoon to forget for Tom Claisse’s side as they fell to a disappointing defeat against a well-drilled opponent.

Having been beaten 3-0 by Bourne Town in last weekend’s FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round, Borough were hoping to build on the improved performance they displayed in their step four opener at league favourites Matlock Town in midweek, a match that they ultimately lost by three goals to two.

However, Claisse’s men never recovered from a slow start in their latest clash, and despite a marginally improved second-half showing, the visitors ran out comfortable winners on a warm afternoon at the Bradley Football Development Centre.

The management team opted to make changes from the side that pushed Matlock all the way in midweek, with a busy early season schedule and a few injuries meaning careful consideration in terms of maintaining fresh legs is required.

Borough started with Heath Richardson in goal, behind a back three of Billy Bradley, Paul Walker, and AJ Adelekan. Tristan Drummond and Mason Couch provided the width, with Harvey Cribb joining captain Sam Topliss and Josh Clarke in the middle of the park. Kieron Ceesay and Charlie Burden-Whittleton formed an attacking duo, while Bradley Wood, Tom Sawyer, Alex Flett, Charlie Clements, and Bailey Wright made up the substitutes.

Anane Wireko was absent, along with striker Edwin Essel, midfielders Josh Venney and Jack Barlow, and wide player Louis Boyd, who are all yet to feature competitively in the opening stages of the campaign.

First Half

The early exchanges were evenly played out, as both sides looked to settle and find their rhythm. Liversedge were the first to threaten on five minutes, as a long ball over the top almost fell for Alfie Dean before Walker and Adelekan combined to mop up any danger.

At the other end, Ceesay dropped deep and picked out the run of Topliss. The midfielder got his shot away from the edge of the box, but it was lacking in power and easily dealt with by Jordan Porter in the ‘Sedge’ goal.

The visitors then took command with two quickfire goals, the first coming from Dean, who latched on to a half-cleared cross and found the bottom corner from just inside the penalty area in the ninth minute. The strike appeared to rock Borough, and they found themselves further behind shortly after as Ben Atkinson nodded in Dean’s superb cross, with the officials waving away Richardson’s appeals for handball.

Two goals to the good, Liversedge had a firm grip of the game and began playing with confidence. While chances for both sides were at a premium for much of the remainder of the first period, striker Antony Brown and Dean were impressive for the visitors and gave the Borough backline plenty to think about.

As half-time approached, and following a change in system, Claisse’s side upped the intensity a little, with Josh Clarke’s fierce goalbound effort well stopped by an opposing defender, before Couch tested Porter from 20-yards in the last attack before the interval.

Second-Half

It was hoped the break would give Borough a chance to reset and look to change the course of the game in what needed to be an better second period.

Claisse initially decided to stick with the side that had started, though Flett, Sawyer, and Wood soon replaced Cribb, Walker, and Couch with 50 minutes on the clock. The interval and the subsequent changes did bring a positive reaction, with a little more enterprise and quality on the ball leading to Drummond firing at Porter, before Adelekan shot wide when played into the left side of the Liversedge penalty area.

The likes of Brown, Dean, and Swales remained a threat on the counter for the visitors throughout, but Borough were certainly causing a few more problems of their own in attacking areas, a cross from Adelekan narrowly evading Burden-Whittleton and Topliss.

Although Clements replaced Clarke and Wright came on for Drummond in the final throw of the dice by Borough, it was Liversedge who’d seal the win, with striker Brown capitalising on a defensive mix-up to charge down Richardson’s clearance into the back of the net on 67 minutes.

With the game over as a contest, the remainder of the match passed by with little incident. Brown came close to adding to the scoreline on a couple of occasions, while Burden-Whittleton’s close range attempt landed in the gloves of Porter as Borough looked for a late consolation before the referee brought proceedings to a close.

The defeat leaves Borough with plenty to ponder, and they’ll be hoping to rediscover the confident, flowing football on display in pre-season as soon as possible and get some points on the board after what has been a difficult beginning to the 2026/27 campaign.

They have the chance to do just that as we welcome Garforth Town to the Technica Home of Grimsby Borough on Wednesday evening (19:45 kick-off). We hope to see you there to back the lads as we look to respond in a positive fashion.