United ran out 2-1 winners against Doncaster Rovers' reserves with second half goals from Callum Howe and Kyle Wootton.
The Iron fielded a strong side to face Doncaster at Cantley Park with several first team squad members taking a spot in the starting line-up.It was a quiet for the opening few minutes with both sides trying to find their feet in midfield. With five minutes gone, Matt Sparrow put his foot on the ball in the middle of the Rovers half. This opened a bit of room for the midfielder to slide into Lyle Taylor on the shoulder of the last man. Taylor struck early and low but just past the far post.
Jennison Myrie-Williams was next to threaten with a low ball in from the left. Marosi left his line to sprawl and smother before Billy Kee or Taylor could get on the end of it.
United's front six - strikers and the midfield - caused plenty of trouble for Rovers back-lit early on. Two consecutive moves from left to right gave Terry Hawkridge the ball in space after good work from Myrie-Williams and Kee. The latter resulted in a free kick right on the edge of the box for Kee to curl. His effort was straight at Marosi, however.
Myrie-Williams switched flanks on the quarter hour, earning two free kicks as Rovers struggled to deal with his direct running. Both were aimed deep to the far post and the first fell right to Boyce who out-jumped his man but couldn't direct his header beneath the bar under pressure.
Doncaster fashioned their first real chance on 20 minutes with a free kick taken right by the corner flag. Billy Whitehouse rose on the edge of the six-yard box; his free header looped wastefully over. Mandeville followed up with a placed strike from the edge of the box. Weaver got down comfortably to his right to save and hold on.
Both sides looked to get the ball down and play but were largely cancelling each other out. Rovers threatened with just a strike from distance, well blocked by Boyce. United had briefly gone quiet in the final third with half an hour played.
As the half petered out, Richie Wellens - the experienced central midfielder - burst through from halfway and towards the Iron's back-line his strike from distance was tame through - Weaver again behind it.
Myrie-Williams tried to do the same up the other end, coming in off the flank. His run was again halted with a poor challenge, breaking up the move and letting the hosts off with a free kick they were able to deal with and clear.
A lengthy spell on the ground for an injured Doncaster striker almost saw the end of the half. There was just time for a well worked interchange between Featherstone, Myrie-Williams, Kee, Hawkridge and Taylor to create an opening for the latter who hit narrowly over. Lovely one-touch football on the stroke of half time.
The second period took five minutes to spark into life. The hosts, though, were those forcing the issue. Matty Sparrow was forced into taking a yellow for the team as a Rovers midfielder broke dangerously towards the Iron's defence. The free kick came to nothing but United didn't clear entirely. A ball came in towards the back post from the Rovers right, met well at the far post and blocked on the line by Boyce.
United took the lead in what had been a relatively inconspicuous first portion of the second half. The Iron won a free kick on halfway that Hawkridge hit straight. Callum Howe rose tallest to nod across goal into the far corner. A minute later trialist Ryan Fallon, having come onto the field five minutes beforehand, played a good ball into Sutton - a fellow substitute in place of Matt Sparrow. The youngster tried an audacious chip towards goal, landing just the wrong side of the bar, luckily for Marosi.
After taking the lead United asserted themselves on possession. Rovers struggled to garner any consistent time on the ball - an injury to Wellens didn't help an otherwise young side. Despite the possession, and looking comfortable, it took the Iron until the 75th minute to fashion another real opening.
Again Fallon was involved, with a clever ball dissecting the Doncaster defence and into Kyle Wootton. The striker took a touch too many after letting the ball run across him, allowing Rovers to recover and prevent the strike on goal from what was a good position.
The Iron doubled their lead with just four minutes of normal time to play. A defensive mix up after pressure from Levi Sutton allowed Kyle Wootton to dispatch calmly from close range - a gift that United had frustrated their hosts into giving.
Jack McKay did manage a consolation on 89 minutes, on the stroke of full time. Rovers came at the Iron down the left then offloaded into the middle of the pitch. Boyce made a timely interception but was grounded in the process allowing Doncaster to squirm through. The ball broke loose at the corner of the six-yard box where McKay was lurking to slide across Weaver into the far corner.
Scunthorpe United reserves: Weaver, Oliver-Stothard, Mosanya, Boyce, Howe, Featherstone, Sparrow (Sutton, 60), Hawkridge, Kee (K. Wootton, 72), Taylor (Fallon, 55), Myrie-Williams.
Substitutes not used: Ledger, Hood.