It was that time again at the Attis Arena this evening, as play-off fever rolled back around for the third consecutive season, with 5th placed finishers, the Iron, taking on their old EFL foes, Southend United, with hopes of replicating last season’s heroics that saw Scunthorpe promoted from the National League North.
In terms of Andy Butler’s team selection for the evening, United would return to fielding a full-strength team for the high-stakes encounter. After resting their star duo of Pat Jones and Cal Roberts for their previous fixture against Eastleigh, the wide men would return to the Starting XI to replace Declan Howe and Connor Smith. Elsewhere, versatile Defender Jean Belehouan was recalled to the side at right-back as Ross Barrows dropped to the alternates.
As the Iron got proceedings underway on home soil, those in attendance wouldn’t have to wait long for something to celebrate as United made the best start imaginable, with the game’s opening goal.
As Danny Whitehall stole possession inside the Southend half, he would lay possession off to fellow forward Cal Roberts, who had space to exploit. Touching the ball down and running at his opponent, Roberts would glide inside and work the ball onto his stronger left foot before arrowing a low driven shot towards the bottom corner that had the beating of goalkeeper Collin Andeng Ndi, nestling in the bottom corner to make it 1-0.
The Iron were evidently the livelier of the two sides in the opening exchanges and would look to build on their advantage when Pat Jones received possession in the final third. Driving inside with pace and power, Jones would escape from his marker before sending the ball towards the target, masking his shot through a sea of Southend bodies and forcing Andeng Ndi into an important save.
In the minutes that followed, Scunthorpe would have yet another golden chance to extend their lead when Oli Ewing’s winding run into the area allowed him to place the ball into the path of Whitehall on the edge of the area, stroking the ball towards the bottom corner in what was a goal-bound effort if not for the intervention of defender Harry Taylor, stopping the ball on the line and doing a sensational job to deflect the ball off Ewing who was lurking for the rebound.
As the 40-minute mark approached with United relatively unscathed, the Shrimpers would have their best chance of the game to date when a cross from a wide area managed to find target man forward Harry Cardwell at the far post. As Cardwell nodded the ball back across the face of goal, former West Ham midfielder Keenan Appiah-Forson would come steaming onto the ball, directing an effort towards goal from a matter of yards that Louis Jones remarkably kept out with a reaction save.
This would be the final notable action of the opening period under the lights, and when the sides returned from the tunnel for the second period, it was made abundantly clear that the message coming from the visitors’ dressing room was that they needed major improvement.
Mere minutes after the restart, Southend would have the chance they desired to draw level when their top scorer, Andrew Dallas, wriggled free to receive the ball on the edge of the area, driving the ball towards the target with a thunderous strike, which was sublimely caught by Louis Jones to diffuse the situation.
As play continued in the second half, Scunthorpe would start to build a foothold in the encounter once again and very nearly could’ve found a way to double their lead when Oli Ewing stole the ball from his team mate Whitehall, who was down in the area, driving towards the by-line before being hooked back by a stray arm from Harry Taylor, yanking Ewing to the floor by his collar, somehow not resulting in a penalty as the referee waved the claims away.
For the next 20 minutes of action, an all-out battle would ensue as the two teams were dragged into a scrappy affair, resulting in the ball spending more time in the air than on the deck, but with how Will Evans was performing at the heart of the Scunthorpe defence, that would suit him down to the ground.
With 71 minutes on the clock, the Iron would advance forward in search of that all-important second goal through when Belehouan carried possession over the halfway line. Using his electric pace to drive past his man, the wing-back would opt to take his own route to goal, ignoring the run of Roberts to his right and driving the ball towards the target, forcing Andeng Ndi to make an unconventional save as it dropped down between his legs.
In half of the very few true opportunities, Southend would come close to levelling the scores at the perfect time when Harry Boyes received a bouncing ball on the edge of the hosts’ penalty area, instinctively sending a volleyed strike towards the top corner that narrowly evaded the target.
With the game now in its closing stages, the Shrimpers’ frustrations would start to show as just moments after Gus Scott-Morris was shown a yellow card for an off-the-ball incident, Taylor would react to a tackle from Kian Scales with a push to the face, seeing himself dismissed for a second yellow card at the very death.
This would prove to be the final action of the encounter, as referee James Oldham would bring the time to an end, cementing Scunthorpe’s place in Sunday’s play-off semi-final against Rochdale after a fantastic team performance under the lights of the Attis Arena.
IRON: Jones, Horton, Belehouan, Evans, Whitehall (Howe, 90), Roberts (Scales, 90), Rowley, Jones (Beestin, 78), Ewing (Barrows 90+7), Westbrooke, Denton
IRON SUBS: Mahady, Brogan, Smith,
REFREE: James Oldham
Attendance: 6248 (996 Away)
