Report: Iron 1-1 Fleetwood Town

The Iron drew 1-1 at home to Fleetwood Town on Tuesday night.

It was Lee Novak’s first-half strike that separated the two teams for much of the game, but a late equaliser from Jordy Hiwula cancelled out the striker’s third of the season for United.

Graham Alexander made two changes to the team that lost 2-0 to Rotherham at the weekend. Lewis Butroid and Neal Bishop replaced Andrew Crofts and Conor Townsend.

The first chance of the game came from Jordy Hiwula, who hit a shot from just outside the area. The Fleetwood man couldn’t get it on target though as it went wide of the left post.

Down the other end of the pitch, it was Duane Holmes who created the Iron’s first chance. The winger came inside onto his left foot from the right-flank and fired a shot of his own from the edge of the box. However, it was comfortably saved by Town goalkeeper Alex Cairns.

The Iron looked lively in their attacks early on in the game. In the 11^th minute, Josh Morris and Butroid combined on the left to find Funso Ojo waiting on the edge of the box. The midfielder tried another one of his signature long-range efforts but couldn’t quite find the target.

Only six minutes later though, the Iron’s efforts paid off as Lee Novak grabbed his side that all important goal. The striker was waiting at the back post as soon as United won the corner. However, it was the second phase of play that found him and he did well to connect with the cross and fire it home.

Novak came close again only minutes later as he turned onto the ball in the box following a clever flick from Paddy Madden. It looked to be going on target but went whiskers wide of the right post.

Fleetwood didn’t get many chances in the first-half and struggled to make the most out of the ones they created. Hiwula was found by a long ball to the right-wing with just over ten minutes to go. The striker shot after the ball took its first bounce but couldn’t keep it down and on-target.

Fleetwood produced another chance with five minutes left on the clock. Lewie Coyle crossed the ball into the box where Devante Cole was waiting. However, the ball was cut out by Jordan Clarke who calmly chested it back to Matt Gilks.

The final chance of the half went the way of the visitors, as a Scunthorpe clearance fell to Bobby Grant who decided to try his luck from outside the box. He could only send it clear of the crossbar though.

The Trawlerman decided to take off their top scorer at half-time and replaced him with Conor McAleny. It looked to be an impressive decision, as it was Fleetwood once again that opened the chances and it was the ex-Iron man that made the chance. The striker drove at the United defence and shot from distance. However, the shot didn’t have the power to take it past Gilks.

In the 55^th minute, Morris and Butroid continued to cause trouble on the left-wing and almost created the Iron’s second goal of the evening. Butroid was overlapped by Morris who took the ball on and sent a cross into the box. Novak flicked the ball towards goal but it went just wide.

Fleetwood were giving the Iron subtle reminders that they were still in the game though, which was highlighted by their effort in the 59^th minute. McAleny rose in the box and got a header on goal. However, Gilks was there to stop it again.

These two players had their next showdown just after the hour mark. The impressive substitute created another chance on the break and ran through the midfield. He decided to shoot as he approached the box but his effort went straight into the hands of Gilks.

Duane Holmes created a fantastic solo effort on goal in the 66^th minute. The winger weaved through the Fleetwood midfield and shot from 20 yards out. He found the target but was denied by an impressive Cairns save.

The following ten minutes saw both teams battle it out in midfield with neither able to break through the opposing defence.

The Iron did get a chance with ten minutes left on the clock though. Neal Bishop spearheaded the move down the centre of midfield and passed it onto Morris. The winger drew the ball back to Bishop and the midfielder found Ojo at the edge of the box. The Belgian struck the ball accurately but couldn’t get the power on it to beat Cairns.  

Jordan Clarke sent a shot into the side netting with five minutes to go. The right-back had made the run onto the back post and was unlucky not to score.

Fleetwood never gave up throughout the game and it eventually paid off for the visitors. Jordy Hiwula went one-on-one with Gilks and placed it into the right-hand side of the goal.

Ashley Hunter then had his chance of the game after coming on from the bench. Bolger headed the ball down and the substitute was there to volley it at goal. However, Gilks made the save and kept the score level.

Bishop struck just wide from the edge of the area, while Hakeeb Adelakun made an impact off the bench as he almost grabbed a winner in the first minute of added time. The midfielder travelled past multiple defenders to get a shot on goal at the edge of the box. The curling but driven effort from the left-side was on-target but didn’t fool Cairns.

TEAM LINE-UPS
Scunthorpe United: Gilks, Clarke, Wallace, Ojo, Madden, Morris, Bishop Novak, Holmes (Adelakun, 76’), McArdle (c), Butroid.

Unused Substitutes: Watson, van Veen, Hopper, Lewis, Redmond, Burgess.

Fleetwood Town: Cairns, Coyle, Bell, Eastham, Pond (c) (O’Neill, 78’), Hiwula, Dempsey, Grant, Bolger, Glendon (Hunter, 71’), Cole (McAleny, 45’).
Unused Substitutes: Neal, Burns, Schwabl, Cargill.

Attendance: 3,120.

Referee: Peter Bankes.

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