Scunthorpe United 2-1 Chesterfield
Report from Glanford Park
Carling Cup first round - Tuesday, August 11, 2009

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United held on to defeat Chesterfield 2-1 in the first round of the Carling Cup on Tuesday night.

Goals in either half  from Matt Sparrow and Paul Hayes sealed the Iron's passage into the next stage.

Chesterfield pulled one back late on through a Darren Currie penalty, and made Scunthorpe fight all the way for the win.

Nigel Adkins' side will find out who they are to play in the second round on Wednesday night at around 10.00pm.

United went into the game making five changes from the side thumped 4-0 at Cardiff City on the first day of the new Championship season on Saturday.

Josh Lillis started in goal in place of Joe Murphy, who was away on international duty with the Republic of Ireland.

The defence consisted of Andrew Wright, who covered the absence of ankle injury victim David Mirfin, as Cliff Byrne switched to centre-back alongside Rob Jones. Marcus Williams came in for Ian Morris as the last defender.

The midfield consisted of Garry Thompson, in for Grant McCann who was with Northern Ireland, Sparrow, Michael O'Connor, replacing Sam Togwell, and Martyn Woolford, while Hayes partnered Gary Hooper up front.

Hooper was the first player to come close in the opening stages when he got into space in the area and attempted to squeeze through a shot. Lee was equal to it though.

Before the game a minute's silence was held to respect local soldier Anthony Lombardi, who died on duty last week, and fan Clive Smith, who passed away during the summer.

The visiting side were no slouches though and forced a couple of early corners. Nevertheless, it was the home team who looked more dangerous attacking.

The Iron started brightly and were rewarded on 12 minutes when Sparrow fired his team ahead.

Deployed in central midfield on the night, he bombed forward to get on the end of a low cross by Hooper before clipping the ball past Tommy Lee to score Scunthorpe's first goal of the new season.

Just prior to that, Williams had headed off the goal-line after an inswinging corner by Mark Allott almost curled in

Five minutes after the goal, the much-travelled striker Martin Gritton fired a shot high and wide of goal from just inside the box. Then, soon after, Danny Hall's goal-bound header deflected wide off his own player.

The visitors were having a lot of the attacking play at this point but were yet to really test Lillis.

Scunthorpe came close again at around the 40-minute mark when O'Connor's drilled drive was tipped over the crossbar by Lee. It proved to be the last chance of the opening period.

Three minutes after the restart, United had the ball in the net again - as O'Connor's free-kick was curled in from the left. It dipped past Lee, with what seemed a slight touch from Hayes, but was ruled out for offside.

However, he was to enjoy more success with his next free kick. He fired in a rocket of a free-kick which Lee did well to tip out, but Hayes was there to instantly follow up with the rebound.

There was another chance for the hosts on 57 minutes when O'Connor's shot was tipped wide.

The hosts were attacking with confidence, and Hayes curled an effort onto the crossbar from the edge of the area.

Another fantastic chance arrived moments later when a cross from the left by Jones reached Hayes, who played in Hooper but his low shot was well blocked by Lee.

Woolford, who had been struggling with his groin early in the second half, had a clipped shot headed off the line by Kevin Austin after been played in by Hayes.

The visitors had a great chance to get back into the game though on 72 minutes when Jones felled former Scunthorpe forward Drew Talbot in the box. Substitute Currie stepped up to fire past Lillis.

Two minutes later, Josh Wright came on for Woolford, with Sparrow moving to the left to accomodate the former Charlton man.

The Spireites could sense the chance of a leveller though and kept pushing. There was a succession of corners for the visiting team and Williams had to clear off the line again, this time from Austin's scrambled effort.

Four minutes of added time were indicated, but the Iron managed to hold on for their first win of the season.

Scunthorpe are next in action on Saturday when they host Derby County in the Championship.

TEAMS
Scunthorpe United: Lillis, A. Wright, Byrne, Jones, Williams, Thompson (Forte, 82), Sparrow, O'Connor (Togwell, 90), Woolford (J. Wright, 74), Hayes, Hooper.
Substitutes not used: Slocombe, May, Hurst, Canavan.

Chesterfield: Lee, Austin, Allott, Gritton (Currie, 68), Harsley (Niven, 68), Breckin, Hall, Gray (Picken, 33), Bowry, McDermott, Talbot.
Substitutes not used: Page, Kerry, Boden, Crossley.

Referee: Dean Whitestone.

Attendance: 2,501 (470 away).

Sponsors' man of the match: Michael O'Connor.