The Iron’s Under-18s side travelled to their Rotherham counterparts on Saturday morning, defeating their opponents 4-1.
It was a brilliant dominant performance from Scunthorpe who controlled the game throughout the 90 minutes on their way to victory, with Cameron Moorfoot, Joe Busby, Miracle Okafor and Harry Jessop scoring the goals.
The Iron came out of the blocks quickly and were soon rewarded for their fast start when they took the lead six minutes into the game courtesy of Cameron Moorfoot.
A well-worked corner was whipped in towards the backpost where Moorfoot was lurking unmarked. The defender then expertly cushioned the ball down before shooting from 18-yards to find the top corner and put the Iron ahead.
Scunthorpe continued to pressure the hosts in possession and doubled their advantage shortly after when Joe Busby spectacularly curled the ball into the top corner from 20 yards. Levi Gallimore did well to win the ball back high up the pitch and then squared it across to Busby, whose first time shot found the back of the net.
15 minutes in, and it was almost three. Another good set-piece routine found Miracle Okafor in the area, but a wonderful last-ditch tackle and clearance by a Rotherham central defender denied the striker a chance to score.
On the 20 minute mark, Sam Riches in the Scunthorpe goal was called into action for the first time when the home side raced forward. However, Riches was equal to the challenge and made the save to stop the hosts from pulling one back.
Two minutes later, and the Iron mounted an attack of their own. Louis Collins made a fantastic run down the wing before he crossed the ball for Gallimore, who rose highest to connect with his head but saw his effort drop just wide of the target.
Dominant Scunthorpe were then able to add a third goal to their tally just past the half hour mark. Okafor deservedly managed to get himself on the scoresheet when Silva picked up possession, before playing a brilliant throughball into the path of the striker, who tapped it in to give the Iron a three goal lead going into the half-time interval.
A moment later, Okafor could have had another but the Rotherham goalkeeper superbly tipped the ball behind to keep the deficit to three and a glimmer of hope for the hosts heading into the second half.
Following the half-time break, Rotherham looked to come out and attack. On 58 minutes, they managed to get a goal back when a long ball over the top found the centre-forward, who left Riches with no chance courtesy of a neat lob over the ‘keeper to make the scoreline 3-1.
As the clock ticked towards the hour mark, the Iron asserted themselves on the game and had a couple of chances to go further ahead after two pieces of good team play and intricate passing, but they couldn’t quite find the end product.
70 minutes in, and Collins thought he made it four. He forced a fantastic save from the Rotherham stopper and the ball looked like it was going to cross the line, but for a goal-line clearance that denied him.
Substitute Harry Jessop then made sure that he capped off a brilliant display from the Iron when he scored to make it 4-1 in the 86th minute. His shot from the edge of the area was initially blocked before he latched onto the rebound to slot the ball into the bottom corner with his left foot.
Scunthorpe continued to press right to the finish as they put on a fantastic display against Rotherham to come out 4-1 winner, in a dominant and well managed performance.
TEAM LINE-UP:
Iron: Riches, Baker, Moorfoot (Chadli, 84), Silva (Shrimpton, 86), Barks, Harrison, L. Gallimore (Jessop, 70), Pugh, L Collins, Okafor, Busby.
Substitutes not used: Crosher.