The Iron suffered a 4-1 defeat to the hands of Chesterfield at the Proact Stadium on Saturday.
A hat-trick from Eoin Doyle and a goal from Sam Morsy sealed the three points for the hosts.Paddy Madden had opened the scoring for the Iron in the opening minute of the second half, but the hosts fought back to claim a win against Scunthorpe.
Following last weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Bristol City, the Iron made two changes to the starting line-up, with Matt Sparrow and Luke O’Neill coming in for Neal Bishop and Eddie Nolan.
The Iron were very much in competition with the Spireites last season, with both sides challenging for promotion and the League Two title, with Chesterfield coming out on top. The games between the two were tight too, both finishing 1-1 at the Proact Stadium and Glanford Park.
The hosts got us underway at the Proact Stadium and carved out the first chance of the afternoon just minutes into the game. Good work down the left from Daniel Jones allowed the ball to be put across to Boco on the edge of the area, however his shot was fantastically blocked by Marcus Williams.
The Iron didn’t sit back however and went straight up the other end to create a chance for themselves. A drilled cross from Adelakun was parried by Tommy Lee and put out for an Iron corner. Chesterfield couldn’t clear the corner as it fell to Paddy Madden, whose acrobatic effort went over the bar.
Minutes later and it was Madden again who nearly found himself in on goal. Debutant Margreitter slipped allowing Madden to run in one-on-one with the goal-keeper, however the defender made up for his error with a block to send the ball out for a corner.
Chesterfield striker Eoin Doyle was causing the Iron defence a few problems as he looked to add to his four league goals already this season. The forward man skipped past Llera and attempted a curling effort from the edge of the area which narrowly went wide, but gave the Iron keeper something to think about.
After 23 minutes, the Iron came very close to breaking the deadlock. Sean McAllister was fouled just outside the area to win a Scunthorpe free-kick. With Adelakun and McSheffrey stood over the set-piece, it was McSheffrey to take as his curling effort went just over the bar.
Neither side managed to control the middle stages of the first half with chances becoming hard to come by. Both teams had an equal amount of possession and were trying to pass through the opposition to get in behind, but both sets of defenders looked solid as the game crept towards half-time.
However, with five minutes remaining of the first half, Tommy Lee was forced into a great save by McSheffrey. A long throw from O’Neill dropped to the former Chesterfield man, who struck it well on the volley, but his shot was well saved by Lee.
On the announcement of two minutes added time, there was enough time for Chesterfield to create an opportunity before the break. The ball was played across the box to Morsy, who held onto the ball before Boco overlapped and made space on the left of the area. Morsy found Boco but his shot sailed over the bar.
The second half couldn’t have started much better for the Iron, breaking the deadlock just seconds into the second half. McAllister received the ball on the edge of the Chesterfield area and his shot was blocked, but into the path of Paddy Madden, who slotted the ball perfectly past Lee, with the Chesterfield defence looking to the linesman for offside.
Chesterfield however didn’t sit back and won themselves a penalty almost instantly after Llera was adjudged to have handled the ball, the defender receiving a yellow card for the incident. Doyle stepped up to take the penalty but his effort was fired onto the crossbar and cleared away by the Iron. Seconds later and Olejnik was forced into a fantastic save as the ball went out for a corner.
Doyle made amends for his mistake and scored his fifth goal of the season just minutes later. It was Johnson who pulled the ball across the area and the former Hibernian man got in the space and finished past Olejnik to equalise for the hosts.
It was all action at the start of the second half as both sides were really going for goal. Madden was close to making it 2-1 to the Iron. McSheffrey flicked the ball over the top of the Chesterfield defence with Madden running on to the ball. He was under pressure but managed to get a shot away, Lee parried the ball back to the striker but his header went over the bar.
On 63 minutes the home side took the lead from another Johnson and Doyle combination. Johnson had the ball on the edge of the area and put an accurate through ball towards Doyle, who finished precisely to get his and Chesterfield’s second goal of the game.
The hosts were awarded their second penalty of the afternoon and a chance for Eoin Doyle to complete his hat-trick, after Canavan brought down the Irish striker in the box. Doyle stepped up and side footed the ball into the corner to claim his seventh goal of the league campaign and to make the score 3-1 to Chesterfield.
The Iron brought on attacking substitutions in Kee, Myrie-Williams and Taylor, but the hosts continued to look extremely dangerous on the break. A corner from McSheffrey was nodded on to Lyle Taylor, whose flick was well saved by Lee with only minutes remaining.
Down the other end, Chesterfield scored their fourth goal of the afternoon on the 89th minute. Morsy was played in down the left for Chesterfield as the midfielder ran in one-on-one with Ojejnik and finished past the keeper to make the score 4-1 to the hosts.
That was to be the last significant moment of the game as last season’s League Two champions stayed solid at the back and sealed the three points.
TEAM LINE-UPS
Chesterfield: Lee, Evatt, Darikwa, Ryan, Morsy, Margreitter, Jones, Boco, Clucas (Gnanduillet 81), Roberts (Johnson 21), Doyle (Ariyibi 89).
Subs not used: Chapman, Raglan, O’Shea, Banks.
Scunthorpe United: Olejnik, O'Neill, Llera, Canavan, Dawson, (Myrie-Williams 76), Adelakun (Taylor, 69), Sparrow (Kee 81), McAllister, Williams, McSheffrey, Madden.
Subs not used: Weaver, Hawkridge, Boyce, Sutton.
Attendance: 6227 (621 away).