Two goals from striker Lee Novak gave the Iron a 2-0 victory against Peterborough United on New Year’s Day.

Novak’s first came inside six minutes after he seized on a poor back pass to convert past the goalkeeper.

Great pressure from George Thomas then led to the striker’s second, slotting the ball into the bottom right corner at the ABAX Stadium.

Manager Stuart McCall made one change from the side that beat Wycombe Wanderers last Saturday. Defender Charlie Goode came in to replace Yasin Ben El-Mhanni.

The Iron got off to a bright start and could have been ahead within the opening three minutes. A ball set up nicely for George Thomas on the edge of the box and his dipping volley crashed against the underside of the bar and back into play.

Thomas caused more problems when he beat Posh goalkeeper Connor O’Malley to the ball and sent an effort goalwards. With the ball rolling towards the empty net, a defender got back to clear it away.

McCall’s side continued to press forward and got their rewards in the sixth minute when Novak put the Iron 1-0 up. The forward pounced on a poor back pass from Joe Ward and neatly slotted the ball into the right corner of the net.

Posh then looked to grab an equaliser not long later through former Iron loanee Ivan Toney. He rose to meet a left-winged cross, but his header flew wide of the target.

That chance was later followed up by an effort from Marcus Maddison, whose driven shot from 30 yards went over Jak Alnwick’s crossbar. 

Alex Woodyard then curled a cross into the area from the right side, which was met by Ward at the far post, but his side-footed attempt went wide. 

Toney had another opportunity for the hosts after a cross came in from Maddison. He found space in the box, but struck his volley wide of the left post. 

At the start of the second-half, Thomas hit the woodwork for the second time in the match. The attacking midfielder took a free-kick by the left corner of the box and his effort curled all the way through and skimmed off the right post. The ball then bounced out for a goal-kick.

The Leicester City loanee then laid the ball off to Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, who had made a run inside. However, the full-back’s effort went wide of the right post. 

Just seconds later Novak got his and the Iron’s second goal of the match in the 58th minute. Thomas was again involved in the attack when he worked extremely hard to get a cross in from the left. It wasn’t cleared by the Posh defence, as the attacking midfielder closed down the ball, before Novak coolly finished the ball into the bottom right corner.

Peterborough looked for a goal back in stoppage time but Matt Godden’s header went wide. 

That was the last main action in the match, with the Iron recording back-to-back wins as they will get ready to host Coventry City on Saturday.

TEAM LINE-UPS
Peterborough United: O’Malley, Naismith, Woodyard, Tafazolli (Cummings, 75’), Dembele, Reed (Cooper, 59’), Ward (Godden, 59’), Bennett, Toney, Maddison, Denton.
Unused substitutes: Chapman, O’Hara, Cooper, Lyon, Stevens, Cummings.

Scunthorpe United: Alnwick, Borthwick-Jackson, Ojo, Perch, Novak, Thomas, Goode, Burgess, Sutton, McArdle, Wootton.
Unused substitutes: Flatt, Ugbo, Dales, Lewis, Ben El-Mhanni.

Referee: Ollie Yates.

Attendance: 6,974.