Stocksbridge Park Steels 1-0 Grimsby Borough: Match Report

Stocksbridge Park Steels 1-0 Grimsby Borough: Match Report

The Wilderness Boys made the trip to South Yorkshire to face Stocksbridge Park Steels on Wednesday evening, looking to pick up their second Northern Premier League (East) victory of the season.

However, despite controlling large parts of the game, Borough slipped to a 1-0 defeat as a solitary first-half strike proved the difference on the night.

Boss Tom Claisse chose made some alterations to his starting line-up following Friday’s disappointing result at Bradford Park Avenue.

Heath Richardson was once again in goal, with league debutant Bismark Osei joined by Tom Sawyer at the heart of the defence. AJ Adelekan was unavailable, meaning Billy Bradley and skipper Sam Topliss took up the full-back roles.

A midfield trio of Alex Flett, Josh Venney, and Josh Clarke looked to take charge of the engine room, with Tristan Drummond and Luke Ayris on the flanks. Charlie Clements came in for Kieron Ceesay to lead the line.

Ceesay was joined on the substitutes bench by Bradley Wood, Jack Barlow, Paul Walker, and Harvey Cribb.

First-Half

The hosts got proceedings underway on a breezy evening at Bracken Moor, with the early exchanges proving scrappy as both sides struggled to get the ball down with any consistency.

It would be Borough who carved out the first chance on 11 minutes, as Clarke’s through ball sent Clements away. However, Ben Townsend in the Steels goal was out quickly to thwart the striker’s effort, with the ball deflecting away to safety.

Flett then fired a free-kick over the bar, before Clements and Clarke linked up well, with the former Brentford man's 19th minute strike from inside the box well blocked away for a corner.

Bismark headed off-target from the resulting set-piece, before Stocksbridge went ahead with their first real attempt at goal, Charlie Oglesby finishing left-footed after the ball found its way into his path from a free-kick swung into the Wilderness Boys’ penalty area.

The final 20 minutes of the first period lacked any sort of cohesion at all as Borough looked for a way back into the game. Good work from Drummond did allow Venney to test Townsend before the interval, with the midfielder’s near post effort tipped wide as Claisse’s men went into the break a goal down.

Second-Half

The Wilderness Boys were quickly on the front foot upon the restart, with the rain beginning to fall under the Bracken Moor floodlights.

Claisse’s men had three early attempts at goal blocked, before Bradley’s 50th minute cross just evaded Clements as they pushed for an equaliser.

Flett volleyed wide from distance as Borough looked to retain the momentum and keep the game flowing. However, despite being in the ascendancy in terms of possession and territory, they were struggling to create clear-cut opportunities, with the hosts defending their box well and winning the aerial battle in their own half.

Ceesay replaced Flett with just under 20 minutes remaining, as Claisse looked to get more support up front for Clements, and the August Player of the Month made an immediate impact, getting on the ball and running at defenders who were struggling to contain the pacy attacker.

Borough’s best chance of the second-half arrived on 83 minutes, as the ball fell to Clarke 20-yards from goal. With Drummond in support, the midfielder opted to shoot; his half-volley flying narrowly wide of the right post.

The Wilderness Boys kept probing as we entered five minutes of stoppage time, but to no avail as Stocksbridge kept them at arms length to wind the clock down. With Borough throwing men forward in search of a late leveller, the hosts broke, and substitute Reece Clegg was denied by a combination of Richardson and Topliss.

Steels would hold on for the victory on a frustrating night for Claisse's men, who certainly didn’t deserve to come away with nothing, but, perhaps, didn’t test the goalkeeper enough themselves over the course of the game.

A positive on the night was the performance of our Winner Winner Chicken Dinner Man of the Match Bismark Osei, who, along with Sawyer, were superb in limiting the hosts to very little throughout.

The Wilderness Boys are next in action on Saturday, as we host Consett at the Technica Home of Grimsby Borough (3pm kick-off). We hope to see a good crowd there to support the lads as we look to kick-start our season with a first home win of 2026/27.