Borough torn apart after bright opening

GRIMSBY Borough went down to a 4-1 home defeat against second-placed Staveley MW in the Northern Counties East League Division One.

Unbeaten in five games, Borough went into the match full of confidence.

There were only two changes from last week, with Tom Hardy replacing the suspended Luke Mascall at full back.

The evergreen Kevan Short replaced the unavailable Liam Tuck at centre-back.

Borough started brightly, pressing Staveley back with some good controlled football, with Oswin and Steel orchestrating most of the attacking moves.

Debnam was played in behind full-back Swan, but his cross was poor with plenty of Borough players waiting in the box.

Dean Newby held off Robinson and played Luke Fanthorpe through, and he hit a rising drive – but keeper Scott Dinnigan was equal to it with a good tip over.

Little had been seen of the Staveley attack with Dave Unsworth and Kev Short winning most first balls, and it was no surprise when Borough took a deserved lead on 20 minutes.

Fanthorpe got on a loose ball in the box and went around Robinson. His shot was palmed away by Dinnigan into the path of the incoming Short, who cooly side-footed into the corner.

This was a wake-up call for a Staveley side unbeaten in their last 15 outings.

They started to push more men forward with conviction and should have got an equaliser when Joel Birks went round Hardy and, with only Leigh Graves to beat the Borough keeper, pulled off a great stop blocking a certain goal with his legs.

This seemed to give the visitors confidence and the equaliser arrived on 40 minutes. A flurry of quick passes on the edge of the Borough box got Kyle Fores-Chambers in behind the back four, and he finished with a shot into the far bottom corner.

The second half started in the pouring rain with Staveley taking the game to a hesitant Borough.

The visitors took the lead on 50 minutes when Scott Ellis appeared to be left unmarked after a run by Birks to find the corner of the net.

Borough had not got started at all and Bradbury and Smith were winning everything in the midfield for Staveley.

Borough could not get out of their own half.

It was no surprise when the third went in on 65 minutes when Jamie Smith smashed a cross shot into the far corner.

Debnam got on the ball in an advanced position to run at Swan, but the winger elected to go inside and was frozen out by a resolute back four.

Nothing had been seen of the Borough front two as the service had dramatically dried up.

Michael King came on for Jamie Steel and Richard Belding replaced Debnam in a last push to try to make something happen.

Emson got his marching orders on 75 minutes for a second yellow.

Hardy got a good ball into Belding, who got past Swan and curled a shot just wide of Dinnigan's right hand post.

Borough could not retain enough possession to have any chance of building an attack and Staveley closed the game down with a forth five minutes from the end after Bradbury won another midfield challenge to play in Scott Bates, who finished in style.

On the second half showing, Borough are not going anywhere, but on the first half display – they are a match for anybody.

They have a chance to bounce back tonight with a home game against Hemsworth MW (7.45pm).

Team: Graves, Hardy, Toyne, Steel, Unsworth, Short, Debnam, Fanthorpe, D Newby, Oswin, Emson. Subs: King, Belding, S Newby.