Report: Burton Albion 0-0 Iron

The Iron drew 0-0 with Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday afternoon with neither side able to find the decisive goal to snatch the win.

Stuart McCall named an unnamed starting eleven for the fourth game in a row as the Iron looked to continue their fine form under the new boss who went into the game with a six-match unbeaten streak. 

Scunthorpe got the game underway and put the hosts under pressure early on. Ryan Colclough neatly flicked the ball on straight from kick-off as he looked for Ike Ugbo in the area, but calm defending from Burton resulted in the ball being chested back into the hands of Dimitar Evtimov.

After withstanding a spell of early pressure from United, Burton then started to get a foothold in the game. Scott Fraser picked up possession on the edge of the area before unleashing a shot that went just wide of the target after seven minutes.  

A few minutes later and Kyle McFadzean also blazed over the bar for the home side when a well worked corner routine found the defender lurking in the box, but he couldn’t quite control the ball well enough on the spin to test Jak Alnwick.

Then, as the clock reached the quarter of an hour mark, David Templeton stung the palms of Alnwick as he rifled in a shot from distance. However, the goalkeeper was up to the challenge and superbly tipped the ball over the bar with a flying diving save to deny Albion a chance to take the lead. 

Five minutes later, and the Iron thought they had taken the lead themselves when Matthew Lund slotted the ball into the top corner against his former club, but the referee ruled it out when he deemed a foul in the area for a push in the back on a Burton player. 

Previously, Scunthorpe had won a corner as a searching ball looking for Josh Morris down the wing was cut out. The resulting set-piece was delivered to the far post, which Lee Novak got on the end of, but his volley was well saved by Evtimov before the chalked off rebound was put in by Lund. 

Burton were then on the attack again in the 33rd minute. Liam Boyce was played in down the right channel before he took a touch that saw him drive into the area. He struck the ball on goal, however Alnwick got down well to hold onto the shot.

The game continued in an end-to-end fashion with Scunthorpe forcing Evtimov into a save moments later. Morris won the aerial dual with a flick-on that dropped to Lund on the edge of the box. He fired in a shot on goal, but the goalkeeper palmed it away for Burton to clear. 

Despite a whole host of chances in the first half, neither side could break the deadlock going into the half-time interval, with the teams heading into the break goalless.

As the game restarted for the second 45 minutes, it was a quiet encounter until the 57th minute when Lund once again caused Burton problems. A ball from the left was played in by Morris. The midfielder came to meet the cross with his head and his effort looked to be looping into the back of the net, but Evtimov managed to claw it away to keep the scoreline level. 

With the clock ticking past the hour mark, the Iron searched the opening goal and thought they had it when substitute Andy Dales put the ball into the back of the net having controlled a Colclough header six-yards out. However, for the second time in the match, referee Peter Wright disallowed the goal, this time for offside. 

United continued to press and in the 73rd minute, a neat, tricky run from Colclough down the right flank saw him jink his way into the box before unleashing a shot that was blocked in the area. Cameron-Borthwick-Jackson then came in with the first-time follow-up shot that was deflected behind for a corner and eventually cleared from danger. 

Just moments later, the hosts went up the other end that ended in a shot off-target. Lucas Akins latched onto a throughball before he fired well over the crossbar. Then, Alnwick made another fine save to deny Albion as Boyce turned in the box and thundered a strike towards goal. The goalkeeper dived to his left and turned the ball around the post with the resulting corner coming to nothing. 

As the match entered the final ten minutes, Cameron Burgess did well to steer the ball behind when a man was poised to slot into an empty net behind him. Then Alnwick was called into action again when Ben Turner got his head to a deep cross, but the ‘keeper held on comfortably. 

As the fourth official indicated three minutes of added time, Burton found themselves with a chance to win it. Fraser burst through the middle with the goalkeeper baring down on him, however Alnwick did spectacularly well to stick out a strong left arm and stop the ball from nestling into the corner of the net to earn the Iron a draw. 

Scunthorpe are back in action on Tuesday evening as they host Charlton Athletic at Glanford Park. 

TEAM LINE-UPS: 
Burton Albion: Evtimov, Allen, McFadzean, Turner, Fraser, Akins, Templeton, McCrory, Sordell (Brayford, 67), Quinn, Boyce.
Substitutes not used: Campbell, Buxton, Hesketh, Sbarra, Fox, Cole.

Scunthorpe United: Alnwick, Borthwick-Jackson, Ojo, Lund (Horsfield, 63), Ugbo (Dales, 52), Morris, Perch, Novak, Goode, Burgess, Colclough. 
Substitutes not used: Flatt, Clarke, Humphrys, McArdle, Butroid.

Referee: Peter Wright.

Attendance: 2,797 (542 away).