The Iron’s Under-18s were beaten away from home on Saturday morning, losing 3-1 away at Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Youth Alliance League.
A first half which yielded no goals from either side took its time to spring into life in the second too, with both sides unable to break the deadlock until late on.
In the 74th minute, Rovers’ substitute Max Adamson opened the scoring. A long ball sent down the pitch was flicked on by Jack Goodman, which then broke Adamson through one-on-one with Iron ‘keeper Ewan Oxborough who couldn’t save the shot.
Minutes later, Rovers doubled their advantage from a 77th minute corner. The delivery was swung in towards the back post, as midfielder Will Flint headed back across the box into danger, where Charlie Petch followed up to score.
Four minutes later, the Iron won a penalty. Josh Robertson did well to keep the ball in-play after chasing a long ball, but was subsequently brought down in the box. Harrison Poulter converted the penalty with 10 minutes to go.
A potential comeback was shortlived for the young Iron, when an 86th minute strike put the game beyond doubt. Play down the right wing saw Rovers’ goal scorer Adamson play into Harry Wood, who then forwarded the ball onto Goodman who finished the move and secured Rovers’ third of the match.
Reflecting on the game, Professional Development Phase Coach Mark Smith said: “I said to the lads for 75 minutes we’ve more than matched them, we got on top second half, we changed it a little bit from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-1-2.
“They played three at the back and kept the ball a lot in the first half and we dropped off so we had a go at it [second half] and they were working.
“We were on top and then we got done with a sucker punch, a mis-cued clearance from us which saw their lad run away and finish it off.
“We got a penalty and thought we were back in it but then the last goal seemed offside, but it’s not just down to that and we have to get on with it.
“We weren’t at the levels we were at last week (winning 5-1 at Rotherham United), and last week's levels were a benchmark which is a standard we have to attain every week."
The Iron’s Under-18s’ return to action against Pontefract Collieries away in the second qualifying round of the FA Youth Cup on Thursday, September 29th (7pm kick-off).
Looking ahead to the next fixture, Smith said: “We’ll try and keep it as normal as possible, whilst trying to work it around their education which is important, but we need the time to prepare them.
“If we do anything like we can do, like last week, we can beat anyone. If were not slightly at it, we’ll struggle, that’s the nature of the beast.”
Entry is FREE for the game at the Hunters Stadium, as the Iron look to start a cup run.
Last season, the side got to the third round proper of the competition, where they faced Manchester United at Old Trafford.
DONCASTER ROVERS: Oram, Whiting, Petch, Flint, Allen (Green, 62), Fletcher, Lindley (Bennett, 90), Khan, Raper (Wood, 62), Scattergood (Adamson, 65), Goodman.
UNUSED SUBS: Parkinson, Pooley.
IRON: Oxborough, Elliott-Bell, Cunningham (Devine, 80), Abraham, Strouther, Wallace, Cribb, Robertson, Burden-Whittleton (Giles, 70), Sellars-Fleming, Poulter.
UNUSED SUBS: Murtagh, Dickinson, Dawson.