...And the ball finds its way to Hooper in the box... who expertly tucks it into the bottom corner, before wheeling away in celebration in front of the Donny Road End! Finally! 1-0 to the Iron!

Then it all fell apart. Dominant for the best part of an hour, Scunthorpe were fired in front by our new fox in the box on Saturday, but the goal only served as a wake up call from the lack lustre opponents Leeds, as they stepped up a gear or two and clambered back on level terms immediately, just when it looked as though we were on course for a notable scalp on the opening day. From there on in, it was pretty much one way traffic; the equaliser knocked the stuffing out of the Iron, and in predictable fashion, ex-Iron loanee Jermaine Beckford slid in the winner just ten minutes from time; a result that in the end was probably deserved.

The only complaint that the Scunny fans can have had at half time was that they had not managed to penetrate the Leeds back line, such was the run of play at Glanford Park. Indeed, the Leeds faithful had little to cheer throughout the first period. I think the biggest cheer to come from the away end during the opening half was a sarcastic roar of appreciation at being awarded a free kick; welcomed as though the club had just won the FA Cup.

Hooper's impressive composure in front of goal after half time soon had the fans breathing a sigh of relief, but the subsequent capitulation was cause for concern. United seemed unable to maintain a foothold in midfield; Leeds' Jesus-esque midfielder Prutton took the game by the scruff of the neck, and once they grabbed the equaliser, there was only one winner. As well as outlining some naivety of our defending, the two goals we conceded also underlined some alarming security issues at the ground. Why were Leeds fans in the home sections of the ground? Why were only a few thrown out? Why were they allowed to celebrate as though they had just won promotion? And why was nothing done about their continual singing and chanting in the Telegraph stand? They made no attempt to hide the fact that they were in the wrong section of the stadium; it seemed as though they were intent on causing trouble, though this is nothing new from this particular set of supporters.

Anyway, enough of the misdemeanours of the Leeds fans. Saturday's game, though ending in disappointment, did have plenty of positives. As I've already said, the first hour was very encouraging and Gary Hooper looked a major threat. Added to that, Kenny Milne's competitive début looked very promising, culminating in his collection of the man of the match award. His performance alongside Izzy looked watertight for the most part. Garry Thompson looked promising in some areas, but seemed to lack any real conviction when it came to releasing the ball or beating the last man; perhaps he'll need time to find his feet and confidence at this level. Josh Lillis can be pleased with his efforts at keeping the score down. He had a shaky start; almost dropping the ball over the line in the first half under minimal pressure, but picked up in the second half and produced a string of fine saves to keep the rampant visitors at bay. That should do his confidence the world of good, though some of that may have been shot after Tuesday night's mauling at Hartlepool.

That was a mightily disappointing result against a side in the same division as us; and a performance that Nige has already stated was not acceptable. The misery was compounded by an injury to Milne, who now looks a doubt for Saturday's encounter at The Bescot Stadium against Walsall. His place may be given to David Mirfin, a new signing from Huddersfield. Nicknamed 'The Ox', he was a fans favourite at the Galpharm, but has fallen down the pecking order under the new regime following an influx of new defenders, ironically headed by former Scunthorpe centre-back Andy Butler.

The midfield frailties highlighted in the Leeds game are being addressed too: York City's star player Martyn Woolford has been brought in and can operate anywhere across the midfield, and Adkins appears to be on the verge of announcing the signing of a 'tigerish' midfield player from a Championship club. Hopefully this will be the missing piece of the puzzle and can kick start our promotion push.

We are all looking for a response now on Saturday, hopefully the players can deliver after the manager publicly lambasted their Tuesday night performance. Nobody likes to begin the season in losing fashion, but we can take comfort from the fact that it was a few games before we got our first win two seasons ago, and we all know how that season ended! Let us hope that we can get our first three points on the board on Saturday and hit the ground running.

Up the Iron.

Carl MacDonald