Grimsby Borough Vs Grantham Town - Match Preview

Grimsby Borough V Grantham Town Match Preview

As Borough push on with preparations for the upcoming 2026/27 Northern Premier League Division One East campaign, we welcome Grantham Town to the Technica Home of Boro on Saturday (3pm kick-off) as both sides continue to ready themselves for their respective step four seasons beginning next month.

Borough head into the game on the back of a strong performance and well-deserved 3-1 victory over Barton Town in midweek, with the Wilderness Boys also seeing off Northern League side Thornaby at the beginning of July.

While pre-season games are largely utilised for fitness and trialling ideas and systems, Borough have looked sharp throughout, playing some inventive football and creating plenty of chances, and many of Tom Claisse’s squad have come back looking refreshed and hungry to improve on their 15th-placed finish last time out.

New additions Billy Bradley, Tristan Drummond, and Charlie Clements have settled in quickly, and this weekend could see the first appearance in a Borough shirt for goalkeeper Heath Richardson, for whom Hayden Rogers has deputised superbly thus far. The match against the Gingerbreads may also give the coaching staff another opportunity to look at some trialists who have impressed in recent weeks.

Grantham make the approximately 75-mile trip north through Lincolnshire on the back of returning to the NPL umbrella themselves, having won promotion from the United Counties League Division One North last time out.

They’ll take their place in the Midlands section for the new campaign, the same division as Borough’s FA Cup Extra-Preliminary Qualifying Round opponents Bourne Town, and should provide Claisse’s men with a good barometer to see where they are at as we reach the mid-point of pre-season.

Manager Mitch Griffiths and his Assistant Louis Bland took over from former Mariner Nathan Arnold in the Gingerbreads dugout after the club were relegated to step five in 2025, having been involved in the Northern Premier League Premier Division play-offs as recently as 2018.

The aforementioned duo have quickly turned around their fortunes, however, with Grantham, who are three-time winners of the Lincolnshire Senior Cup, on an upward trajectory once more following their promotion a few months ago.

Finishing the regular season third on 74 points, and losing just six league games throughout, Griffiths’ men would make good use home advantage in their play-off semi-final and final, where they saw off Belper United (3-2) and Newark Town (2-0) respectively, the latter in front of a crowd of well over 1,500 at the South Kesteven Sports Stadium.

Key players in their success include central defender Nathan Stainfield, goalkeeper Jack Steggles, and the creative presence of Andy Wright, while Terry Atem and Cameron Johnson were regularly on the scoresheet when it mattered.

While Atem has since moved on to Nuneaton Town, Grantham have retained most of their play-off winning squad, including club legend Lee Shaw who is closing in on 100 goals for the club in over 250 appearances for the Gingerbreads across three separate spells. They’ve also recently added full-back Connor Bartle, centre-back Kacper Rajter, and attacker Louis Czerwak to their ranks from Stamford, AFC Mansfield, and Newark Town respectively, along with former Nottingham Forest youth player Osakpolor Soloman.

So far this summer, Griffiths’ side have recorded a 6-0 victory at Godmanchester Rovers and a 3-1 success at Deeping Rangers, before losing 2-1 at Harrowby United last time out.

The recent head-to-head record between the two sides shows four league meetings at this level between November 2022 and February 2024, with Borough winning three of those, including a 2-1 victory on the road in that final clash. Grantham did claim an away win themselves earlier that season, however, winning by two goals to one on their last visit to the Technica Home of Boro in September 2023.

We look forward to welcoming the players, staff, officials and supporters of the Gingerbreads to Grimsby this weekend for what promises to be an enjoyable afternoon’s action, and we hope to see many of the Borough faithful backing the lads once again.