Iron defender Andrew Boyce was pleased with the way in which a young Scunthorpe United side played in a 1-0 victory over Winterton Rangers on Tuesday evening.
It took Scunthorpe a long time to break the deadlock in a game which looked to be coasting to a 0-0 draw, until Luke Waterfall headed home in the dying embers of the game to give United the win.For Boyce, however, the most important thing to come from the match was another ninety-minutes of fitness ahead of the season’s kick-off against Swindon a week on Saturday.
“It’s pre-season, first-of-all, and it was good to get ninety minutes under our belts,” Waterfall said of the match to The Iron Player.
“It was a good competitive game, and they kept going.
“We nicked it at the end, and it wasn’t a bad result.
“But, as I say, it’s still pre-season, and ninety minutes was the most important thing.”
Pressed on the significance of the victory, Boyce confirmed that United were obviously happy with it, but continued to emphasises the positives which came with the game time.
He also suggested that he and many of the Iron’s other players are now starting to reach the stage where they can play ninety minutes without feeling overly strained.
“It is a victory, but we’re not really looking at it like that," he said.
“First-and-foremost, some of the youth team lads have got the chance in a good, competitive game because of the game at Frickley.
“Plus, me and Luke (Waterfall) have got ninety minutes.
“It’s not really about the score or anything like that, it’s literally just ninety minutes of fitness.
“We’ve worked hard in pre-season, and we’re getting there.
“Even the young lads looked fit, and it wasn’t really a problem [playing] ninety minutes.”
See much more from Andrew Boyce, and others, on The Iron Player.