Grimsby Borough (A) - Saturday, 16th November 2024

The Opposition - History
A previous club named Grimsby Borough joined the Supreme Division of the Central Midlands League under the name Grimsby Ross in 1987.
They finished bottom of the division in 1988–89, and were renamed Grimsby Borough at the end of the season. After finishing bottom of the table again the following season, the club dropped into the Lincolnshire League.
In 1990–91 they were Lincolnshire League runners-up, but left the league after finishing fourth the following season.

A new Grimsby Borough club was established in 2003, joining the Lincolnshire League for the 2003–04 season.
After finishing as runners-up in their first season, they joined the Premier Division of the Central Midlands League.
Despite finishing second in their first season in the league, they were not promoted to the Supreme Division. However, after finishing as runners-up again in 2006–07, they were promoted.
In 2007–08 the club finished twelfth in the Supreme Division and were admitted to Division One of the Northern Counties East League.
In 2011–12 they won the league's Wilkinson Sword Trophy.
Although they finished bottom of the division in 2014–15, conceding 161 goals, they were not relegated back to step seven.
A fourth-place finish in 2016–17 saw them qualify or the promotion play-offs. After beating Hallam 3–2 in the semi-finals, they lost 4–2 to Penistone Church in the final.

In 2018–19 Grimsby were Division One champions, earning promotion to the Premier Division. They were Premier Division champions in 2021–22 and were promoted to Division One East of the Northern Premier League.
Last season they finished 11th.
(Source - Wikipedia)

The Opposition - This Season
It's fair to say Borough's start to the season has been somewhat inconsistent.
Beginning with five home games including an FA Cup victory over Oadby Town, they bounced back from an opening day NPL defeat to Emley by beating Ossett United 5-0.
However a few days later they were on the wrong end of that same scoreline as Anstey Nomads dumped them out of the Cup.
They followed this with a win, draw and defeat in the league to see out August.
At the beginning of September, they lost out to Chasetown on penalties in the FA Trophy, a feeling Belper fans would come to learn a few weeks later.
September saw a decent run in the league, going undefeated and only narrowly losing out to Cleethorpes in the Lincolnshire Cup.
Their form turned on its head in October when they failed to win a match, picking up just one point against Liversedge.
However they come into this encounter unbeaten in three November matches so far, victories over Pontefract and Stocksbridge and a draw last weekend at Dunston.
They currently sit 8th: P 16 W 7 D 4 L 5 F 24 A 16 Pts 25.

The Nailers
Belper started the season well, and their only away defeat in the league remains at Emley back in August.
After defeat at home to Cleethorpes came a run of five successive wins, ended at the Raygar Stadium by Brighouse Town and then four days later Newton Aycliffe won at Belper by the same scoreline of 2-0.
However the 22nd of October saw a return to winning ways, Harry Draper securing a brace as the Nailers won at Carlton Town.
Three weeks ago Belper exited the FA Trophy, losing on penalties at Chasetown after a 1-1 draw but back in the League the following weekend the three points were secured in an incredible 6-4 win over Consett.
A week last Tuesday saw the unbeaten run extended to four games with a comfortable victory over Pontefract Collieries and our previous match was a nervy one goal penalty win over Ashington.
Draper is clear as leading scorer with 16, while Nat Crofts and Curtis Burrows have five. Luke Rawson sits on four and Keaton August & Jack Broadhead have two.
Belper sit 2nd in the table and 4th in the form guide, and are the only side yet to draw a match this season: P 16 W 12 D 0 L 4 F 29 A 18 Pts. 36.

Head to Head
The sides have met twice before, both matches coming last season.
In the opening match of the campaign, James Cadman opened the scoring for the Nailers before a brace from Kevin Bastos secured a comfortable 3-0 win.
Back at the Raygar Stadium a couple of days before Christmas it was a much closer affair with the match being bookended by goals.
Borough took the lead within the first two minutes but a Ben Rhodes equaliser in the dying seconds meant the points were shared.
Record for Belper: P 2 W 1 D 1 L 0 F 4 A 1.

The return fixture from today is scheduled for Saturday, 22nd March 2025.

Form Guide (all comps)
Grimsby Borough: DLLWWD
Belper Town: LWDWWW

Team News
There are no major injury concerns or suspensions.
New signings Terry Atem and Louis Keenan are available for selection.

Permutations
Belper will go top if they better the result of Cleethorpes; they face a long trip to Ashington.
Emley will leapfrog the Nailers if they win and we do not; they are also on the road at basement club Sheffield.
For Borough, they cannot quite reach the playoffs but they could move up to 7th. Their passage to 6th is blocked by the fact that Bradford PA and Dunston play each other.
Short of some miraculous score lines, they can only drop one place and that's if Carlton win at Ossett and Borough fail to win.

Match details
Grimsby Borough vs. Belper Town
Northern Premier League Division One East
Saturday, 16th November 2024 - 3:00pm kick off
Bradley Football Development Centre
Bradley Road
Grimsby
DN37 0AG

Admission prices: Adults £10, Concessions £5, Under 12s with paying adult £0

Follow the match
Live audio commentary is available with Tom on Radio Belper Town - https://radiobelpertown.mixlr.com
Full coverage on X and Facebook.
Match reports to follow on the website (all matches) and in the Non-League Paper (Saturday matches only).

NPL East fixtures
(19th) Ashington AFC vs. Cleethorpes Town (1st)
(13th) Bishop Auckland vs. Liversedge (15th)
(7th) Bradford (Park Avenue) vs. Dunston (6th)
(16th) Bridlington Town vs. Heaton Stannington (14th)
(18th) Brighouse Town vs. Consett AFC (20th)
(10th) Garforth Town vs. Sherwood Colliery (17th)
(9th) Grimsby Borough vs. Belper Town (2nd)
(4th) North Ferriby vs. Pontefract Collieries (12th)
(21st) Ossett United vs. Carlton Town (11th)
(22nd) Sheffield vs. Emley AFC (3rd)
(5th) Stocksbridge Park Steels vs. Newton Aycliffe (8th)