Goals from Douglas Wilson, Aaron McLean and Gedo gave Hull City a 3-0 victory in the Central League East Division Reserve league.
Scunthorpe did have chances to score themselves, with the best coming to Luke Hornsey late on. However, Hull stayed strong at the back and limited the Scunthorpe attack to strikes from range as they didn’t find a way past Jakupovic.The reserve game was the perfect opportunity to give captain Michael Collins some game time following the injury that has kept him out since the end of August, in an attempt to regain first team fitness. It also gave Christian Ribeiro the chance to get match fit after his recent injury.
The Hull City team saw a few first team faces in the starting XI including; Aaron Mclean, Stephen Quinn and Nick Proschwitz, all of which have made appearances in the Premier League and Capital One Cup this season.
Scunthorpe weren’t fazed by the names on the team sheet and started the game confidently. Jamie Wootton took the ball passed his man well and burst into the box. His low shot was saved well and the rebound was just behind an on running Adelakun, who was looking to pounce on the loose ball.
Both sides looked lively straight from the off and it didn’t take Hull long until they were creating chances for themselves and subsequently going 1-0 ahead. Quinn’s long range shot was deflected out for a corner.
But from the resulting set piece, Scunthorpe failed to clear their lines and Douglas Wilson was waiting in space, before curling the ball into the top, left corner from 20 yards to give Hull City the lead.
Hull didn’t sit back after scoring the early goal and created several more opportunities to extend their lead, Quinn burst into the area and shot from inside the 6 yard box, however, Severn was there to save well.
Minutes later, Proschwitz rose well from a Topliss cross, his header was on target, but Severn was there again to deny the German striker.
The hosts played their way back into the game after the Hull pressure, passing the ball well and making positive attacking runs. Adelakun, fresh from his substitute appearance against Chesterfield at the weekend, ran at a back-pedaling Hull City defence before shooting wide from 25 yards.
Even though Scunthorpe were starting to look the better side, Hull City took their chance and went 2-0 up after 36 minutes. A scuffed shot from just inside the box was blocked by the Scunthorpe defence. Aaron McLean was alert enough to get to the unclaimed ball first and slotted it past Severn to double the visitors lead.
The Iron tried to get one back almost instantly. Callum Howe beat everyone to a Scunthorpe freekick first and made good contact with his header, only to see his effort sail past Jakupovic’s left hand post.
Both sides finished the half with nice passages of play, passing within themselves and making dangerous runs, neither side could create any real opening and left the keepers with a quiet end to the first half.
It was a bit of a slow start to the second half, but it was Scunthorpe who were to have the first real opportunity after the break. Adelakun picked up the ball on the left wing and attacked with promise, his shot had power and accuracy. However, it wasn’t enough to beat Jakupovic, who pushed it out for a corner.
On 60 minutes, Hull put themselves in complete control. Dixon put a cross into the box and Gedo was there on the back post to bundle the ball into the back of the net to put Hull 3 - 0 to the good. Following the goal, Scunthorpe saw that chance to bring off Collins, who managed 60 valuable minutes on his comeback from injury.
Hull were beginning to dominate proceedings and weren’t giving Scunthorpe many opportunities to pull a goal back. The two full backs, Sam Topliss and Max Clark, were looking very threatening with their crosses.
The duo of Proschwitz and McLean couldn’t get on the end of the many that were pumped in to the box.
The game started to significantly die down during the final minutes of the game. Scunthorpe could have pulled a goal with five minutes to go. Kyle Wootton received the ball inside the box, he pulled it back to Luke Hornsey, but his shot flew over the bar to keep the score at 3-0 to Hull.
Scunthorpe continued to fight for that consolation goal in the final minutes. Jamie Wootton shooting inside the box and making Jakupovic, who didn’t have a lot to do this game, save low to his right.
That was to be the final chance of the game as Hull finished the game comfortably in control and as 3-0 winners.
The Iron can take positives from their second half performance as they kept the Hull City strike force away for most of the half.
Another boost was that first team players Collins and Ribiero, played a significant amount of the game. Collins with 60 minutes and Ribiero played the full 90 minutes.
TEAM LINE-UPS
Scunthorpe United: Severn, Ribeiro, Grayson (Sutton, 75), Hornsey, Howe (c), Hare, Adelakun, Collins (Bateson, 60), J Wootton, K Wootton, Smythe.
Substitutes not used: Bowskin, Hawley, Bateson.
Hull City: Jakupovic, Topliss, Clark, Wilson (Barlow, 75), Clappison, Aimson, Dixon (Armstrong, 60), Quinn, Proschwitz, Gedo, McLean (Chambers, 80).
Substitutes not used: Watson, McElroy, Fletcher.