Heaton Stannington 2-0 Grimsby Borough: Match Report

Heaton Stannington 2-0 Grimsby Borough: Match Report

The Wilderness Boys made the trip up to Tyne & Wear to face Heaton Stannington on Saturday in search of a positive result in what was their first match since the departure of previous boss Tom Claisse.

However, two early goals proved their undoing in the north east, and despite a battling display, an injury-hit Borough squad were left empty handed.

With Edwin Essel, Anane Wireko, Charlie Burden-Whittleton, and Mason Couch out with respective long-term knocks, they were also without the services of skipper Sam Topliss, midfielder Josh Venney, and defenders AJ Adelekan, and Bismark Osei for the game at The Willow Park.

That meant changes throughout the squad, and a starting XI of Heath Richardson in goal, behind a back four of Tristan Drummond, Billy Bradley, Paul Walker, who took the captain’s armband, and new loan signing from Grimsby Town, Alex Graham.

Bradley Wood anchored a midfield trio that also included Alex Flett and Harvey Cribb, while Luke Ayris, Charlie Clements, and Kieron Ceesay provided the attacking threat.

Tom Sawyer, Josh Clarke, and Bailey Wright were joined on the bench by goalkeeper Hayden Rogers and academy graduate Matt Williams.

First-Half

Borough kicked-off against a strong breeze, and soon found themselves on the back foot against a ‘Stan’ side looking to bounce back from a couple of recent setbacks themselves.

The hosts were ahead on six minutes, when a swirling cross from the left by JJ Chrisp was met at the back post by Dan Savage, who squared for striker Sado Djalo to tap in.

Djalo was denied a second four minutes later following a well-timed block from Graham. The frontman wouldn’t have to wait much longer for his brace, however, breaking away from the Wilderness Boys defence to fire home left footed from the edge of the box on the quarter-hour mark.

Borough needed to stem the tide and get a foothold in the game, and had their first opportunity of the afternoon on 24 minutes as Wood rose to head over the bar from a corner.

Heaton were still largely in control as the half progressed, though, and were close to adding a third when Cameron Gascoigne’s header clipped the crossbar, before Richardson’s save denied Djalo his hat-trick as Borough went in two down at the break.

Second-Half

With the wind at their back, Borough hoped to take the initiative in a second period where they’d need to strike first if they’d have any genuine hope of getting back into the contest.

While the Wilderness Boys looked more comfortable, they struggled to create clear-cut opportunities as the game drifted into a midfield battle. Wright and Clarke replaced Clements and Flett after the hour mark in search of a spark.

However, the game continued in a similar pattern, with the hosts looking comfortable in their two-goal lead, and Borough’s efforts to find a way back in largely thwarted,

Gascoigne shot wide for Heaton on 72 minutes, while Ayris did likewise at the other end from a free-kick as we entered the latter stages.

Youngster Matt Williams replaced Tristan Drummond for the final few minutes, while Leighton Hopper forced Richardson into a routine late save as the second-half passed by with little incident, leaving Borough with plenty to think about ahead of two huge home matches in the coming week.

The first of those sees us welcome Hallam to the Technica Home of Grimsby Borough on Wednesday evening (19:45 kick-off), and your support is needed to push the lads on. We look forward to seeing you there.