A debut goal for Adam Hammill earned the Iron a point after drawing 1-1 with Sunderland at Glanford Park.

Josh Maja put the Black Cats ahead, but Hammill, who was subbed on with 16 minutes left, scored a stunning goal from 20 yards out.

Manager Stuart McCall kept with the same line-up that won 2-1 at Walsall last weekend.

The Iron had a chance to take the lead in the 10th minute when Tony McMahon’s free-kick delivery was headed by Rory McArdle to Lee Novak. However, the striker’s close range volley was held by Jon McLaughlin in the Sunderland goal.

McMahon and Novak were involved in another Iron attack ten minutes later. The right-back whipped a ball forward to Novak and he expertly played it through to George Thomas with his first touch, however McLaughlin stopped the attacking midfielder’s shot with his legs.

The resulting corner was then played along the ground to McMahon and his cross found James Perch, but the midfielder’s header went over the crossbar.

United continued to press forward and tested McLaughlin again. Levi Sutton watched the ball drop from the air to volley it goalwards, with the Sunderland goalkeeper diving to his left and collecting the loose ball after parrying the shot.

A mix up from McLaughlin and his defender nearly allowed Kyle Wootton to score. Thomas floated a cross into the area from the left-wing and the Sunderland goalkeeper collided with a defender as he went up to catch the ball. The ball bounced through to the far post, but Reece James hooked the ball away from Wootton.

At the start of the second-half, the Iron had a chance. Perch won the ball with a strong tackle and quickly picked out Wootton, who controlled it and turned. He then struck a powerful low shot, which was spilled by McLaughlin. 

Jak Alnwick then had to make a smart save to from Aiden McGeady’s shot. The winger aimed for the bottom left corner, but the Iron goalkeeper pushed it away.

Sunderland then took the lead in the 59th minute. A cross from the left-hand side was headed home by Josh Maja.

With just over 15 minutes left, McCall decided to sub on Hammill for his first Iron game and also gave Kevin van Veen his second debut at the club.

Hammill was soon involved in an Iron attack. He chipped a deep free-kick towards the left post and it bounced through to Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, but his effort was saved. 

The Iron came close to scoring again. Perch showed great technique to volley from the edge of the box which took a deflection. McLaughlin managed to save the shot and he quickly kicked the ball out for a corner before Novak got to the rebound. 

In the 87th minute, the Iron got their much deserved goal and equalised to make it 1-1. Hammill, on his debut, controlled the ball on the edge of the box and sent a beautiful curling strike into the top right corner. 

There were four minutes of stoppage time, as United fought to get a winner, but the game ended all square.

Scunthorpe return to action with an away match at Fleetwood Town next Saturday.

TEAM LINE-UPS:
Scunthorpe United: Alnwick, Borthwick-Jackson, McMahon, Ojo (Hammill, 74’), Perch, Novak, Thomas (Lund, 85’), Burgess, Sutton (van Veen, 74’), McArdle (c), Wootton.
Unused substitutes: Flatt, Webster, Lewis, McGahey.

Sunderland: McLaughlin, Cattermole (c), Maguire (Wyke, 53’), Gooch, Flanagan, O’Nien, James, McGeady, Maja (Watmore, 72’), Power, Dunne.
Unused substitutes: Ruiter, Matthews, Oviedo, McGeouch, Baldwin.

Referee: Craig Hicks.

Attendance: 7,263.