North Ferriby VS Grimsby Borough

North Ferriby ended their pre-season preparations with a disappointing 3-0 home defeat to Grimsby Borough with a below par performance. Borough, another Northern Counties East Premier side, were good but it was more about the home side being poor especially after a bright start.

For the opening fifteen minutes Ferriby dominated, as they have in many of their build up games, but today it went really wrong. A mistake in defence led to the first goal and, rather then replying, the Villagers let Borough dominate the rest of the game.

This was something assistant manager Paul Robson alluded to after the game when he said: “I think we were our own worst enemy today. The first 15 minutes, as always, saw us start very brightly and the system looked good.

“I think we hurt them on the ball in all areas but the first goal was a slap in the face and was very sloppy, I don’t think we ever recovered from it. This was disappointing as there was a lot more time left in the game but we veered away from our usual play.

“During the season things like this are going to happen, mistakes happen and it’s how you react to those mistakes. Today we didn’t react in the right way but it is pre-season, we will learn from it and it was a great game to have against a very strong team. Games like this can be a blessing in disguise so we now go into next week’s FA Vase game against St Helens with fire in our bellies and a point to prove.”

The early impetus was with Ferriby as a Jamie Forrester free kick sailed wide before superb one touch football between half a dozen players deserved a goal. I took a world class save from Borough keeper Liam Highton to stop Forrester from opening the Ferriby account with a blistering shot.

Borough started to settle into the game with full back Pete Winn prominent both in defence and with set pieces. However a poor clearance saw the visitors taking a 24th minute lead when Jordan Douglas’s clearance landed with Jack Debnam who played in former Ferriby striker Brody Robertson for 1-0.

There was no reaction from Ferriby as they allowed Borough to get on top and just on the half hour they nearly made it 2-0. Forrester committed a foul 30 yards out for Winn’s free kick seeing Debnam’s diving header skim the crossbar.

Borough did double their lead on 37 minutes when Robertson added another when the Ferriby defence were left wanting. Debham picked up the ball on the edge of the area for a slide rule pass to the striker who ghosted round Douglas for a comfortable half-time lead.

Defences were on top for most of the second half with substitutions made on both sides but with very few clear cut chances. Borough added a third goal 74 minutes when the ball was fired into a crowded penalty area for substitute Harry Burke to fire home and seal the win.

 

Ferriby: Jordan Douglas, Josh Dennett, Ben Leyland, Levi Tarbotton, Niall Tilsley, Jamie Forrester, Danny Emerton, Louis Kirk, Scott Phillips, Danny East, Tom Corner Subs: (All used) Kieran McCaffrey, Lewis Exall, Danny Buttle, Iwan Heeley, Gary Bradshaw, Laurence McKay, Tom Oliver

 

Borough: Liam Higton, Tom Jamieson, Pete Winn, Eddie Rogerson, Jordan Barnett, James Dean Atkinson, Jack Debnam, Brody Robertson, Lewis Bemrose, Jack Bradbury Subs: (All used) Joshua Dacre, Harry Burke, Paul Richardson, Tom Hipwell, Fin Wilden, Renzie Lobendhan

Referee: Carl Boyeson

Attendance: 180