United reserves followed their 2-0 victory last week with a draw against Rotherham’s second string on Tuesday.
The Iron’s reserves have another clean sheet to add to their unbeaten start to the Central East Division Campaign.It was a sunny day at Glanford Park, perfect weather for a game of football. With Rotherham starting a strong line-up featuring experienced players such as Claude Davis, Matt Tubbs and Pablo Mills, it was clear it was not going to be made easy for the claret and blue.
Esajas looked lively from the start, picking the ball up from deep and confidently shooting from long range on a couple of occasions whilst Rotherham threatened from some early set pieces. After finding his range, his fifth shot at goal was fumbled by Adam Collin.
Scunthorpe experienced some early pressure and were saved by a last-ditch tackle from Waterfall, denying Tubbs the chance to finish from six yards. 12th minute substitute Nicky Walker then found an opening on the 20 minute mark but was denied by Severn; Rotherham were beginning cause problems for the Iron defence – having most of the chances in front of goal.
After a pinpoint cross from Jordan Clarke, Scunthorpe had their first real opportunity in front of goal, with Jamie Wootton forcing a decent save out of Collin. After 35 minutes a flowing move, starting from Waterfall at the back, ended with a low effort from Jamie Wootton which was saved rather comfortably by the Rotherham shot-stopper. On 39 minutes, Severn saved a stunning 25 yard effort from Rotherham midfielder Michael Tidsey.
In a quiet second half, it took 64 minutes for the first real chance in front of goal – Walker’s first time shot from Danny Hylton’s pull-back blocked by more body-on-the-line defending by Waterfall. It took until injury time for another real shot at goal, again from Walker who blazed his shot narrowly over the bar. These opportunities were the only action in what was a subdued second 45, split by substitutions from both teams.
Overall it was a game with few chances, with pretty much all goal-mouth action coming in the first half. Either team will think they had chances to win it, but a draw was certainly a fair result.
One positive from this encounter would be the solid defensive performance, matched by a clean sheet and impressive displays from Waterfall who may be pushing for a place in the starting eleven in coming weeks. Brian Laws will be encouraged by the fact Esajas managed 48 minutes of competitive football in his efforts to regain fitness.
Reserve team manager Andy Dawson will be happy that his young side managed to compete and earn a point against an experienced, well established Rotherham line up.
TEAM LINE-UPS
Scunthorpe United reserves: 1. James Severn, 2. Taron Hare, 3. George Grayson, 4. Jordan Clark, 5. Callum Howe, 6. Luke Waterfall, 7. Etienne Esajas (Adelakun 48), 8. Luke Hornsey (Beresford 77), 9. Kyle Wootton, 10. Jamie Wootton, 11. Andy Welsh (Smythe 14)
Rotherham United reserves: 1. Adam Collin, 2. Rich Brindley, 3. Robert Millson, 4. Pablo Mills, 5. Claude Davis (Ainsworth 75), 6. David Noble, 7. Mitchell Rose, 8. Michael Tidser, 9. Danny Hylton, 10. Matt Tubbs (James Cadman 58), 11. David Worrall (Nicky Walker 13)