The Iron Under-18's side were defeated 2-0 by their Notts County counterparts on Saturday morning, ending their 100 per cent record in the Youth Alliance League.
United had five players return after a two-week period of self-isolation due to COVID-19 protocols.
“They were perhaps a little under-prepared, having only come back into the building on Thursday,” said professional development phase coach Steve Thornber.
It was an even start to the match, with both teams trying to get a foothold.
United had the first really good chance when Joey Dawson turned in the box, cutting the ball back for Harry Lewis, whose shot was saved.
After 34 minutes, the visitors scored from a counter-attack. Scunthorpe had a corner, the Magpies broke and a long ball wasn’t cleared sufficiently. It was knocked down at the edge of the box, and one of their players reacted quickest, shooting through bodies to open the scoring.
Scunthorpe’s best chance of the second-half came through Dawson on the counter-attack. Jack Moore-Billam played him through, and the forward forced a good save as United pushed to get back into the game.
The away side then had three corners in the space of two minutes, from which they made it 2-0 with 11 minutes left.
Ben Franklin came off injured during the game, twisting his ankle, while Oliver Lobley was feeling his groin so will be assessed as the week goes on. There are also three players still self-isolating due to COVID-19 protocols.
The team return to action with an away Youth Alliance League game at Grimsby Town on Saturday.
IRON: Balme, Baker, Dawson, Franklin (Moore-Billam, 55), Gallimore, Kemp, Lewis, Lobley (Elliott-Bell, 85), Virgo, Wilson, Young.
IRON UNUSED SUBS: Foster, Cribb, Strouther.