United were beaten 2-1 by Chesterfield on Boxing Day at Glanford Park.

The Iron came into the game having made one change from Wednesday night’s FA Trophy fixture against Wrexham. Michael Nelson made the decision to replace Jai Rowe with the well-again Andrew Boyce in defence. The visitors came to Glanford Park in good form as they had won four out of the last five games. They sat in third position in the table. Both sides wanted to end the year with a win. 

Jacob Butterfield was the player to get the game underway and the Iron immediately lofted a long ball forward to try and test the Chesterfield defence. The away side were alert to the early test and they managed to clear their lines.

The Spireites tried to quickly get a hold of the game and they started to dominate the ball. They found themselves with a big opportunity in the early stages of the match. A loose touch from a United player allowed Chesterfield to latch onto the ball and begin a counter attack. They had massively outnumbered the Iron and they drove towards goal with the ball but a poor pass decision stopped them in their tracks and halted their momentum.

That chance had faded away but they were presented with another minutes later. A neat turn on the right-hand flank by Liam Manderville saw him beat his man and it allowed other Chesterfield players to arrive in the penalty area ready for a cross into the box. He drove the ball into the Iron penalty area but the ball was bundled away by United.

Minutes later, Chesterfield found themselves with the best chance of the game so far. The ball fell to Manderville once again but this time he was much closer to goal. He managed to unleash a shot from around six-yards-out and it looked to be heading past Owen Foster and into the back of the net. However, his shot struck the bottom of the left upright and rebounded back into play. Somehow the ball wasn’t turned home by the away side and the score stayed level.

Scunthorpe responded by creating a chance of their own. Good link up play by Butterfield and Alfie Beestin set Beestin free on the right-hand flank. The Iron midfielder drove at the Chesterfield defence and he shaped up to shoot. Beestin hit his shot low and hard and it was on target but a defender put their body on the line and blocked the shot; the danger had gone.

In the 24th minute, United almost took the lead in the game. Another link up between Beestin and Butterfield created an opportunity for the home side. Butterfield lofted the ball over a defender to Beestin and the Iron midfielder received the ball and drove all the way to the byline. He spotted Caolan Lavery darting into the penalty area and he produced a low-driven cross into the area. Lavery got onto the end of it but his back was to the goal so he had to improvise and he tried a skillful flick to try and direct the ball goalward. His flick worked but Ben Fitzsimons was alert and he got down quickly to deny the Iron striker.

Foster was called into action a minute later. Armando Dobra drove a shot towards the bottom left corner and it was almost certainly heading in. Foster had to really stretch to reach the ball and he got his fingertip to it and this was enough to turn it onto the post. The ball broke and the Iron goalkeeper had to react quickly to get up and go and claim the ball. He did just that and the chance faded. However, he injured himself in the process and had to be replaced by Marcus Dewhurst.

In the 34th minute, the Iron took the lead through Lavery. The ball was played into Beestin who was on the edge of the area. He brought the ball down and he slotted a reverse pass through to Lavery. The United striker found himself in a one-on-one situation inside the penalty area and he simply slotted the ball past Fitzsimons and into the bottom-right corner.

Joe Quigley soon levelled for the visitors. He found himself with his back to goal on the edge of the penalty area, and he managed to lose his man and this allied him some space. He curled an effort into the bottom-left corner from around 20-yards-out. It was an unstoppable shot as it was placed so far into the corner. 

Jeff King had a chance from a free-kick, on the edge of the box, just before half-time. He whipped the ball around the wall and it headed towards the target. Dewhurst was aware and he got down quickly to his right to make a smart save.

The visitors got the second half underway and they took the lead early on. Quigley grabbed his second goal of the game. Mandeville was involved in a goal once again. This time he turned provider. He found himself with acres of space on the right flank and he tried to take on the shot but miss-hit it and it found its way into the Iron penalty area. Quigley was the player who got to the ball and he simply slotted the ball past Dewhurst and this gave the visitors the lead.

United responded immediately and they almost grabbed an equaliser. A free kick from a wide area was directed into the Chesterfield penalty area and goalscorer Lavery got his head to the ball first. His header was on target but it had no power and Fitzsimons gathered it easily.

Paul Cook (the Chesterfield manager) was then shown a yellow card for descent towards the match official and he continued after being shown the yellow card and he then saw red. The visitors had lost their manager on the sideline.

Tom Pugh nearly put United level just a minute after this incident. The ball came out to him on the edge of the penalty area and he volleyed the ball goalwards. He struck his shot with power but the direction was lacking and it went straight at Fitzsimons.

Cameron Wilson had a golden opportunity to grab an equaliser late on in the game. He broke into the Chesterfield area and found himself in a one-on-one situation. He took the ball all the way to the six-yard-box before producing the shot. Fitzsimons spread himself and managed to get something on the shot to direct it off target. It was possibly the best opportunity of the game to get back on level terms.

Lavery had another chance to put United level. Pugh whipped in a pinpoint cross from a corner and it found Lavery inside the penalty area. He volleyed the ball goalward but a group of Chesterfield players blocked the ball on the line and the scores stayed the same.

Chesterfield took all three points home with them; The sides will meet again on New Year’s Day.

IRON: Foster (27’ Dewhurst), Boyce, Beestin, Lavery, Taft, Butterfield (76’ Wilson), Shrimpton, Daniel, Apter (59’ Carver), Gallimore, Pugh.

IRON SUBS NOT USED: O’Malley, Rowe.

CHESTERFIELD: Fitzsimons, Horton, Akinola (76’ Banks), Grimes, Manderville, Dobra (89’ Uchegbulam), King, Palmer, Oldaker, Quigley, Jones.

CHESTERFIELD SUBS NOT USED: Maguire, Tshimanga, Asante.

ATTENDANCE: 4,156.