Grantham Town triumph by the odd goal in three at Grimsby Borough

Northern Premier League East

Grimsby Borough 1

Grantham Town 2

By Graham Cowell

Two second half goals for Brad McGregor gave the Gingerbreads a deserved win at Grimsby Borough on Saturday.

The win took Grantham into the top 10 of the Northern Premier League Eastern Division, but manager Paul Rawden is not getting carried away with early season success.

“We are a quarter of the way to our points target after seven games,” said Rawden. “We made hard work of what could have been a four or five goal margin but deserved the three points.”

Neither side got control of the game for the first half an hour. A scrappy, fast paced opening saw Grantham dominate territory without creating chances while the home side struggled to get anything out of a resolute Grantham defence.

An injury to Ethan Bojang saw him replaced after 17 minutes.

Adam Drury made space to deliver a good cross from the Grimsby right wing, but it eluded everyone in the penalty area. A couple of minutes later, Grantham broke from a Grimsby corner and looked like opening up the home defence. Ify Ofuegbu played in Rodrigo Goncalves, but his cross only found a defender.

Grantham continued to get on top of the game and began to create chances. Sam Tessler headed over from a corner shortly before Curtis Hall had to make a save to deny Drury’s low drive for the home side. After half an hour, Elliott Walker played in Ofuegbu as Grantham marauded forward again. His cross was perfect for Greg Smith, but the Gingerbreads striker got under the ball and headed over the bar.

Ofuegbu could have sent Grantham in with a half time lead. Eight minutes before the break, he got through one-on-one with Grimsby goalkeeper Liam Higton, but Higton made the first of a few good saves to keep the scores level. The home goalkeeper denied Ofuegbu again four minutes before half time. A firm strike by the Gingerbreads striker was well saved by the Grimsby keeper.

The only real chance for the home side in the first half came two minutes before the break. Grimsby recycled a corner which dropped for Sam Topliss, but he dragged his shot wide.

Two early chances fell to Ofoegbu just after the break. First he got on the end of a half-chance, but again Higton saved. A minute later, Ofuegbu only had the home goalkeeper to beat, but again fired wide of the target.

Grimsby showed a threat of their own on 49 minutes, delivering a dangerous ball into the Grantham penalty area to which Luis Adlard got on the end. Hall had to move smartly to his right to claw the ball away for a corner.

A forced substitution just before the hour mark turned the game Grantham’s way. Goncalves took a blow to the face from a clearance and was replaced by Luke Hinsley. Within a minute, Hinsley set up the Gingerbreads’ opening goal. He played the ball on for Ofuegbu who had his shot blocked. The ball fell for McGregor who slipped it past Higton.

Four minutes later, Ofuegbu had another chance to add to the Gingerbreads lead. He almost got clear of the Grimsby defence again, but good work by Adlard denied him a shooting chance.

The lead only lasted 10 minutes before a simple move undid Grantham. A long clearance was chased by Bailey Adamson. He won the ball and played it back to Harvey Tomlinson who drove a shot low past Hall to level scores.

Grantham could have settled for a point but felt the win was there for the taking and kept the pressure on the home side.

With 10 minutes left, they got the winning goal. Ofuegbu was involved in the build-up again, holding the ball well with a run across the defence before playing in Eli Christie. He delivered a deep cross for Hinsley who nodded the ball into the danger zone for McGregor to head past Higton.

The last 10 minutes showed the resilience of Rawden’s side. The Gingerbreads defence was strong enough to keep Grimsby at bay and ensure they took home all three points.