United defeated Huddersfield Town 1-0 in a pre-season friendly as both sides continued preparation for the start of the Football League season.
Paddy Madden scored the only goal of the game to give the League One club victory over their Championship opponents.The first half was a goalless affair, but the four new Scunthorpe United players all contributed to a solid performance against higher opposition.
Lyle Taylor and Jennison Myrie-Williams were both heavily involved in all of the team’s attacking play.
Neal Bishop controlled the midfield for the majority of the first half as his commanding presence was the foundation for sustained Iron possession.
Triallist Miguel Llera also impressed the home crowd as his long range passing, partnership with Niall Canavan at centre-half and even a 25 yard free-kick, showed Glanford Park what the Spanish defender is capable of.
The start of the first half was filled with Scunthorpe possession, but the visitors gave Sam Slocombe and his defence plenty to worry about with their quick and penetrative counter-attacking.
The first of three counter-attacks ended in Joe Lolley hitting the crossbar as a misplaced cross almost opened the scoring.
Nahki Wells also threatened as an offside flag denied him a one on one opportunity and moments later he fired an effort over the Iron net.
Scunthorpe chances were minimal but a Miguel Llera free kick almost found the top corner of the Huddersfield net and then a 30 yard effort from Myrie-Williams forced Alex Smithies into a fine diving save.
After a drinks break, due to the intense heat, the away side began to dominate with Tom Smith having two opportunities before the end of the first half.
Both efforts called Iron captain Slocombe into action but neither shot gave Slocombe any problems. After soaking up the away team’s pressure, Slocombe and his back four went in at the break at 0-0 with their Championship opponents.
The home side raced out of the blocks at the start of the second period as they penned Huddersfield inside their own half.
A chance for Lyle Taylor, which led to the striker dragging a shot wide, preceded the opening goal of the game as Paddy Madden fired Russ Wilcox’s side into the lead.
A pinpoint cross from the energetic Myrie-Williams on the right flank left Madden with the goal at his mercy and the Irishman made no mistake as he beat Smithies to open the scoring.
The 59th minute goal was just reward for the blistering start the Iron had made to the half. Taylor almost doubled the lead moments later when he headed a Gary McSheffrey free kick wide of the target.
The Terriers responded well as substitutions Ollie Norwood, Sean Scannell and Adam Hammill gave the away side a much needed energy boost.
Scannell’s pace and trickery was giving him opportunities to shoot but each time the substitute pulled the trigger, his shot was met by a block from a Scunthorpe United defender.
As the game drew on, neither side really pushed for a second goal of the game and both managers made changes as the heat started to make an impact on the players.
Scunthorpe brought on Hakeeb Adelakun, Matt Sparrow, Terry Hawkwridge and Curtis Bateson whilst the visitors introduced Harry Bunn and Jordan Sinnott to the action.
The final chances of the game fell to Adelakun as an 84th minute effort stung the gloves of Smithies and he followed that up with a 90th minute effort which flew menacingly wide of the target.
The final chance was created by Bateson as his defensive tenacity resulted in him dispossessing Huddersfield’s defenders when they dwindled too long in possession and he fed in substitute Adelakun who, despite weaving his way past challenges, couldn’t provide a decisive finish to give Glanford Park a second goal to celebrate.
As the final whistle blew, both sides could be happy with another good workout with Scunthorpe United prevailing as 1-0 winners in front of 1003 fans at Glanford Park.