The Iron's Under-18 side were defeated 3-2 by Rotherham at Roundwood Sports Complex on Friday.
Scunthorpe started the game really well and deservedly opened up the scoring on 22 minutes.
An excellent corner by Nate Sithole was well met by Leslie Sackey and he guided his header beyond the home goalkeeper to score at the far post.
The Iron should have extended their lead on 27 minutes when they had another good chance to score.
Some excellent high pressure saw striker James Dean-Atkinson tackle the Millers keeper just inside the penalty area. He then slipped the ball square to George Barmby, who shot goalwards but unfortunately his effort was cleared off the line.
Two minutes later, Barmby did extend the Iron’s lead when he slotted home after some excellent work from captain Lewis Butroid. United were well on top and were dominating the game at this stage.
However, Rotherham were a threat and they forced numerous corners that Scunthorpe had to deal with.
On 69 minutes, a Rotherham shot was blocked by the thigh of Iron central defender Sam Lilley - the ball deflected onto Lilley’s hand and the referee saw it as a penalty and Rotherham took the lifeline to get back in to the game and made it 2-1.
Scunthorpe started to come under pressure from the Millers, who were in a hurry to get the ball forward at every opportunity, but the Iron stood firm until the 82nd minute.
The ball was bouncing around on the edge of the Scunthorpe penalty area and it should have been cleared. However, it landed at the feet of Rotherham’s left winger who cut inside on to his right foot before finding the top corner to level the score.
The Iron hit back on the counter attack and had players making runs in to the box. Right-back Lewis McMichael made a good attacking run on the angle of the box and his cross/shot went narrowly wide.
On 89 minutes, a long ball over the Iron’s defence caught them square, goalkeeper Adam Kelsey made the decision to come and collect the ball. However, unfortunately the Millers striker got there first and he rounded the Iron keeper before passing the ball in to the empty goal to win the game 3-2.
Team: Kelsey, McMichael, Butroid, Porter, Sackey, Lilley, Allasan (Busby, 57), Hornshaw, Barmby, Dean-Atkinson, Sithole.
Unused subs: Bartholomew, Riches, Train, Ablett.