'Sorry, but those finishes were awful!'. That's a text I'm reading from my Peterborough supporting mate on Saturday as Jon Forte wastes a third golden late chance to seal three points for the Iron, after Garry Thompson and Gary Hooper had both spurned equally glorious opportunities just minutes before to put the game to bed.

Phone in hand, and other hand in mouth with nails being gradually worn down, I look to the heavens. Please hold on, don't let us throw this away. Three minutes of injury time... it seems like three hours. A long ball is hoofed into the Scunthorpe box, but Joe Murphy is back between the sticks, that makes everything okay. Out he comes to collect the ball like he does every time. Only this time, he misses it. Stranded in no man's land, he can only look on as the ball falls to the diminutive Aaron McLean, who has been strangely subdued all game. Heart in mouth, I look on. Here we go again. McLean though, fortunately, looks as surprised as anyone else to find the ball at his feet. His effort soars over the bar. The last action of the game was a poor one, but it meant a first win for the Iron this season, a valuable three points that gets us off the mark.

In fairness it was a rather tepid affair, neither side really managed any real sustained pressure on their opponent's goal. The Posh saw plenty of the ball in the second half and at times knocked it around well, but failed to penetrate our back four or really threaten Murphy. Thankfully, Peterborough defender Kieran Charnock had presumably been watching too much Olympic martial arts and fancied trying his hand at it. Unfortunately, your own 18 yard box one minute before half time, is not really the time or place to practice. Marcus Williams was on the receiving end, and the referee had little option other than to point to the spot. Up stepped Hayesy and cockily stroked the ball home. His first goal of the season, setting us up for our first win.

So finally things are looking up. Without being at our best we managed to grab maximum points. That's a habit we had during our title winning season, so perhaps that's a sign of things to come. Or is that just me being an optimist? Either way, it's good to get off the mark and this victory should provide a springboard for the season. What we need to do now is to put together an unbeaten run to haul ourselves up among the leading pack at the top of the table. The clean sheet was also a massive positive and will boost the confidence of the thread bare defence. Krystian Pearce looked fairly solid at the back, and the back four was shielded effectively by Sam Togwell who I thought tracked back well and looked like a decent player, if a little unfashionable.

Martyn Woolford also had his first taste of first team action for the club, and although he was only given a few minutes to strut his stuff, he looked very lively. I for one would like to see more of the young lad; he looked very comfortable and confident in possession, and was hardly afraid to run at the opposition with the ball. He looks like he could be an exciting prospect and perhaps something of a secret weapon over the course of the season.

Next up then is a trip to Edgeley Park to take on Stockport, who themselves registered their first win of the season last week with an injury time strike at Hartlepool, though they remain unbeaten having drawn their opening two games. So that will mean another tough encounter, but one that we should be looking to win if we want to be among the front runners for promotion. Here's hoping that the victory over Peterborough is one that sets us on an unbeaten run.

Carl MacDonald