Grimsby Borough 1-1 Grantham Town: Match Report

Grimsby Borough 1-1 Grantham Town: Match Report

Borough welcomed Grantham Town to the Technica Home of Boro on Saturday as both sides continued pre-season preparations for their respective upcoming 2026/27 step four campaigns.

The visitors’ promotion last spring has seen them placed in next season’s Northern Premier League Division One Midlands, the same level as the Wilderness Boys, and both sides were looking to use the meeting as something of a litmus test of their readiness at the midway point of their summer schedules.

Having already seen off Thornaby and Barton Town in recent weeks, boss Tom Claisse and his right-hand man Liam Dickens were without the services of goalkeeper Heath Richardson, defenders Paul Walker and AJ Adelekan, skipper Sam Topliss, wide man Louis Boyd, and attackers Anane Wireko, Kieron Ceesay, and Charlie Clements for the clash.

Therefore, the starting line-up consisted of Trialist A in goal, with a back three of Billy Bradley, Bradley Wood, and Tom Sawyer. George Burton and Bailey Wright took up the wing-back roles, with Alex Flett, Harvey Cribb, and Jack Barlow in the engine room. Edwin Essel and Trialist B formed a pacy and threatening strike duo. With Josh Venney, Tristan Drummond, Hayden Rogers, Mason Couch, and Trialists C and D, who have impressed in recent weeks, all among the substitutes, the squad’s quality and strength in depth is really beginning to come to the fore.

Borough were soon on the front foot, as a second-minute cross from the left saw Essel’s close range header kept out by Gingerbreads’ goalkeeper Jack Steggles, before the Wilderness Boys’ trialling goalkeeper was called into action to claw out a Lee Shaw effort from distance at the other end.

Both sides had started well, looking to get on the ball and make things happen. Essel, whose link-up play with Trialist B was causing Grantham problems, was again denied by Steggles when played through on goal, before the lively Louis Czerwak countered, and was brought down in the area, with the visitors awarded a penalty. Shaw stepped up to confidently dispatch the spot-kick and give Grantham an early lead.

The game continued to be played with good intensity and impetus from both teams, with Flett and the aforementioned Shaw looking to pull the strings for their respective sides from the middle of the park.

As we reached the mid-point of the first-half, Connor Bartle fizzed an effort across the Borough goal following a Gingerbreads set-piece, before Wright and Barlow saw speculative efforts go wide of the mark at the other end, with a Bradley header from a corner well kept out by a diving Steggles to maintain the visitors lead as the first-half drew to a close.

Both sides made changes ahead of the second period, with Wright, Burton, Cribb, and Barlow replaced by Couch, Trialist C, Venney, and Trialist D respectively, while Rogers took over from Trialist A in goal.

The second-half began in the same fast-paced manner, and it wasn’t long before Essel looked to have been pulled down in the Gingerbreads penalty box, however the referee waved away Borough’s appeals.

Unfortunately, the striker picked up an injury in the clash, and despite trying to carry on, the former Grimsby Town man had to be replaced by the returning Barlow.

As the game settled down once more, Trialist D saw a strike from distance comfortably stopped by Steggles, before the visitors' Andrew Wright fired straight at Rogers when played through into the right-sided channel.

An entertaining, end-to-end encounter was tied up in spectacular fashion on 70 minutes, with Flett dispossessing Grantham in midfield and unleashing a superb strike from fully 25-yards into Steggles’ top corner, leaving the ‘keeper with no chance.

Bradley and Cribb replaced Sawyer and Flett for the final 15 minutes as both teams pushed for a winner. Gingerbreads’ Player-Manager Mitch Griffiths, who’d come on at half-time, was booked for hauling down Venney after the Borough man had intercepted a pass out from the back, with the resulting free-kick from Barlow blocked by the visitors’ wall.

Wright was re-introduced for the closing stages, replacing Trialist B up front, though it was Grantham who almost struck a late winner as Wright’s goalbound effort from the edge of the area was deflected over by a great block from Bradley Wood.

The impressive Osa Solomon then headed over Rogers’ goal following a whipped in cross, before Venney’s late free-kick from 22-yards sailed just over the Grantham goal as the game ended in a stalemate.

Both sets of coaches will almost certainly have been pleased with the competitive, evenly-contested workout played out in readiness for their respective NPL campaigns that get underway in a few weeks time.

We thank the Gingerbreads for visiting the Technica Home of Boro, and wish them all the best for the season ahead. The Wilderness Boys are next in action on Saturday (25th July), as we head to Cleethorpes Town’s HPS Plant Hire Stadium for the much-awaited return of ‘El Haddocko’.