Scunthorpe United v Huddersfield Town
Glanford Park
Saturday, July 31, 2010

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FULL-TIME: SCUN 2 HUDD 0: I'm happy to report that the second period was much improved on the first both in terms of quality from United and goals from United. Garry Thompson's goal was great and just what we want for him; and a few moments later the one that Raynes got counted for just as much and is also the type of chance that United must get used to taking if they're to do well this season. That was an assured display in defence too - so there are many positives to take from that ahead of Reading a week today.

90 Min: We're into stoppage time now, with United just passing around to run the clock down.

86 Min: Bobby Grant feels the full force of goalkeeper Alex Smithies dive to punch the ball after jostling with him to get to a Josh Wright free-kick first. Ouch.

Sub: Grant on for Forte.

79 Min: Huddersfield's number twenty-one (I say twenty-one, as there is no number twenty-one on the teamsheet and hence we don't know his name) spikes a vibrant attempt at goal from about twenty-five yards following a long spell of possession for our visitors in which they kept the ball, but stopped short of turning the screw. Anyway, this effort is pushed by a jumping Joe Muprhy over the bar.

75 Min: Scunthorpe win a succession of corners which firstly Josh Wright and then Martyn Woolford takes; and in reply Huddersfield make a succession of clearences.

Subs: Scunthorpe's Collins and Woolford replace O'Connor and Dagnall.

71 Min: With twenty minutes to go, Scunthorpe are now in control of a game that has got better in the second-period. Huddersfield have fizzled out in this second half, and I wouldn't be shocked to see United score at least one more goal.

67 Min: Andrew Wright plays a fantastic ball from right-back for Garry Thompson. Thommo gets into the area, but his progress is pegged back when he's tackled and the ball goes for a corner. Again, Thompson's pace has caused real problems there though, and he now looks more than capable of filling the boots of our departed strikers.

Sub: Huddersfield's Gary Roberts vacates, with Theo Robinson coming on in his place.

GOAL! SCUN 2 HUDD 0: Michael Raynes taps-in at the far post after a good-old scramble in the box. It was following the Josh Wright corner which came as the result of McCombe's previosuly mentioned 'clearence'.

61 Min: Jamie McCombe almost calamitously turns a Scunthorpe free-kick into his own net. The free-kick was sailing harmlessly out of play, but the former Iron managed to beat his own keeper anyway, and the effort only went narrowly wide.

59 Min: Huddersfield try setting-up Scott Arfield for a volley from a corner - but he takes too long bringing it under his spell on the edge of the box, meaning it's charged down by the first man.

56 Min: Jonathan Forte is playing well again today, and Nigel Adkins is right  - the talent certainly is there. He just got the ball, turned his marker like he wasn't there and then hit a left-footed shot towards the bottom-corner which Smithies did well to turn around the post.

GOAL! SCUN 1 HUDD 0: Garry Thompson storms through the middle with strength and composure to score the sort of goal we've become accustomed to seeing him grab; and the sort of goal we hope he'll grab more of this season!

50 Min: After some good work and turns, Forte takes a tumble in the box. He looks eagerly up at the referee, but he responds by shaking his head. The Huddersfield player certainly clipped Forte without touching the ball there, but I don't think the rather exaggerated fall aided Jonathan's cause!

46 Min: Forte gives the ball to Togwell who then slightly over-hits a cross towards Chris Dagnall from the right. Dagnall manages to retain possession, however, but by the time he sets-up Michael O'Connor to shoot Huddersfield have managed to re-group, and O'Connor's rushed effort bobbles away via a blocking.

45 Min: Play gets going again in an arena where you could still hear a pin drop.

HALF-TIME: SCUN 0 HUDD 0: First period hightlights? I'm struggling to think, as nothing has really made any mark in my memory. Joe Murphy made a nice save from Pilkington early on, and Huddersfield have probably had more chances than SUFC overall, but it would be wrong to say they've had the Iron on the back foot. Josh Wright did bring a save from Smithies too, but this is not a game that has incorporated masses of (or even any real) talking points.
ATT: 1,484 (309 away)

45 Min: One minute of added time is to be played until this game takes a break which will hopefully rejuvinate it.

43 Min: And in events away from here, it's just come to my attention that Gary Hooper has scored a goal for Celtic as they trail 2-1 to Lyon in the Emirates Cup.

42 Min: Josh Wright draws a save and a clap from the crowd with an effort. That counts as one of few times that Scunthorpe have actually threatened today.

39 Min: David Mirfin makes a sliding tackle on Anthony Pilkington in the box to stop him having a pop from easy-range. The ball is won but then rolls across nicely for Carey, who manages to shoot atrociously wide from a position that I reckon was favourable.

37 Min: Graham Carey curls a free-kick into the box from the left; which David Mirfin clears with his head. That was a dangerous cross actually, and could have led to something were it not for David's awareness.

35 Min: The atmosphere is so non-existant today that a few seconds ago, just for a few seconds, the ground seemed to actually go silent. It seems to rubbing off onto the players to, this is a really nitty-gritty affair, with a distinct lack of quality and energy. Neither team has control, and neither looks like making a mark on the scoresheet.

27 Min: Again, Forte finds himself in the thick of things as he propells himself through the gears and deep into Huddersfield's half. He eventually switches the ball into the path of Garry Thompson, but as he tangels with Jamie McCombe the ball manages to find a way away from him.

20 Min: Industrious work on the wing by Jonathan Forte wins him the ball which he then places across the line of Scunny players assembled on the edge of the area. It passes Togwell, and is then struck powerfully by Michael O'Connor - who sees his goal-bound shot blocked.

17 Min: After a long spell of possession, Huddersfield's Graham Carey receives the ball in acres of space on the right-wing. But after a few seconds he's under pressure from Andrew Wright and spews his cross into the stand.

12 Min: Midfielder Anthony Pilkington tries his luck from outside the area, bringing out a smart diving stop from the ever-reliable Joe Murphy.

Sub: A change for the Iron. It sees Jones come off, and be replaced by Andy Wright. I haven't seen him pick up a knock or anything, but it must be because of some underlying injury.

8 Min: For the third installment in a row I'm going to tell you about a contribution from Togwell. This time he tries a defence-splitting ball to try and release Dagnall; but it's swept up by Peter Clarke.

4 Min: After one surge by Huddersfield, Sam Togwell picks up the ball and drives into an advanced midfield position. He hits a shot which a defender blocks, and Forte follows-up by clipping the rebound wide.

3 Min: Scunthorpe seem content to take sit back in the opening few minutes, as Huddersfield attempt to launch a couple of attacks. Joe Murphy sees the ball once or twice, and Sam Togwell has to make one booted clearence to break up play.

KICK-OFF: The balls popped straight from kick-off to Scunthorpe left-back Jim McNulty to get things into motion.

Nearly there now! The teams are out and have shook hands. Here we go ...

Things are finally starting to swing into motion. The PA announcer has just come online, and the crowd is picking up ever-so-slightly. Both teams have now departed back up the tunnel to undertake their final preperations, and we're now listening to Blue and Elton John (which is making me feel blue to be quite frank) and glancing anxiously at the clock which at the moment denotes that the game will get going in five minutes.

As predicted, Adkins has gone with a strong eleven. Obviously Cliff Byrne is missing, and one can only presume that he's picked up a knock in training that the medical staff don't want to provoke by rushing him back into the team; but aside from him, I would suspect that the team that will kick-off the season in a weeks time at Reading will not look too dissimilar from the one starting today.

Teams:
SCUN: Murphy, Raynes, Mirfin, McNulty, Jones, Thompson, O'Connor, Forte, J. Wright, Togwell, Dagnall. Subs: Slocombe, A. Wright, Woolford, Grant, Collins, Boyes, Coleman, Godden, Williams.
HUDD: Smithies, Arfield, Naysmith, Gudjonsson, P. Clarke, McCombe, Roberts, Pilkington, Garner, Kay, Carey. Subs: Rhodes, Bennett, Robinson, Simpson, Croft, Chippendale, Atkinson, Ridehalgh.

It's an overcast day in Scunthorpe, although it's far from cold; and as usual the goalies are the first players out on the stadium pitch to start warming up. This fixture comes on a day jam-packed full of friendlies of course, and on the day that Gary Hooper makes his debut for Celtic - against Lyon in the Emirates Cup.

To bring you up to speed, United are expected to field a strong eleven today. Five key players were rested for Tuesday's shock loss at York, and I would imagine each of them will start today. Michael O'Connor and Niall Canavan are also pushing for game time after injury ruled them out of the last two games. For the visitors, a player we won't be seeing is Andy Butler - he was released by Huddersfield at the end of last season after things just didn't quite work out for him there; and by all accounts Jim Goodwin finds himself languishing in the same boat, although he is still under contract with the club.

PREAMBLE
All things seem to suggest that there's no such thing as a friendly these days, not really. Players want to win, and even if the Iron's and Huddersfield's 'go easy' on one-another in terms of tackles and what not this afternoon - as nobody wants to see a nasty pre-season injury - the fans will do nothing of the sort for Jamie McCombe. The former Iron defender has made the switch north from Bristol to the Yorkshiremen this summer, but even though he's at a new club, the stick that he's now become accustomed to receiving at Scunny will come just as usual. Hopefully Michael Collins and David Mirfin will draw a nicer response from the visiting fans ...