Scunthorpe United FC

United came into the game having made just a single change from Tuesday night’s fixture against York. Sean Shields dropped out of the squad as he picked up an injury in the previous fixture. He was replaced by Dion Sembie-Ferris.

Within the first few seconds, Torquay had a shot on target. Jack Stobbs picked up the ball on the edge of the area and he had time to get an attempt away. He powered a shot goalwards but his effort was straight at Tom Billson and it was an easy save for him to make.

The visitors almost took the lead a minute later. The ball was whipped into the Iron penalty area and Aaron Jarvis was the player to get to the cross first. He rose into the air, won the header and knocked the ball down for Lewis Collins. The Torquay number 31 received the ball and he directed it goalward with his first touch. The shot came in from six-yards-out and this meant that Billson had to react quickly to make the save. He reacted well and got a strong hand to the ball to deny the visitors the opening goal.

In the 10th minute, Cameron Wilson almost opened the scoring. Lewis Thompson picked up the ball in the middle of the park and drove forward with it. He spotted Wilson rushing down the left-hand flank to support him. Thompson played the ball to the Iron winger and Wilson beat his defender before unleashing a shot. His effort looked to be heading into the top corner and it had Mark Halstead worried. However, his effort went marginally wide of the target and into the side netting.

Wilson was involved in another incident minutes later. He picked up the ball inside his own half, turned and beat his defender. However, as he was about to go past his man he was wiped out and pushed to the ground. It was a challenge which should have warranted a yellow card but there was no card shown in this situation. There was a long break in play as the Iron winger received treatment.

In the 34th minute, Jacob Butterfield tested his luck on goal and it nearly paid off. Reagan Ogle went on one of his trademark runs down the right-hand flank and he picked out Butterfield, who was on the edge of the area. He took a touch and shifted the ball onto his left foot; He wrapped his foot around the ball and it was heading into the far corner but Halstead got across his goal quickly to palm the ball to safety. It was United’s best chance so far.

Towards the end of the half, the visitors began to put the pressure on and they pinned the Iron back in their own half. The momentum had shifted in the game. They had a great opportunity from the edge of the Iron penalty area after the ball was set up nicely for a half volley. The ball was struck well and the shot was heading into the bottom-right corner. Billson once again read the shot well and got down to his left to make a smart save.

The away side were the ones to get the first chance of the half. A mistake inside the United penalty area gave the ball to Dawson. He had acres of space and a lot of time to pick where he was going to place his shot. He chose the bottom-left corner. The shot was drilled along the ground with a lot of power and Billson had to stretch his leg out rapidly to prevent the ball going into the back of the net.

Thompson almost made up for his mistake a minute later. He picked up the ball on the edge of the box, shifted it onto his left foot and unleashed a shot. His effort was deflected and this caused all sorts of issues for Halstead. The Torquay keeper had to completely change his direction to make the save. Luckily for him, the deflection took some of the power out of the shot and he was able to get across his goal and make the save.

His counterpart, Billson, was required to make another save after Lewis Collins directed a shot towards the top corner. The Iron keeper was once again aware of the situation and he got two strong hands to the ball and tipped it away to safety.

From near the halfway line, the visitors spotted Billson off his line and they decided to test their luck from distance. The long shot looped over the Iron keeper and looked to be heading straight into the back of the net. Much to Billson’s relief, the effort was slightly off target and it went onto the roof of the goal. It was an excellent effort from distance and a scary moment for the Iron.

In the 62nd minute, Torquay grabbed the decisive goal of the game. Jarvis picked up the ball in a good position and played a precise throughball to an onrushing Collins. Collins found himself in a one-on-one situation and he was the one to come out on top. He coolly slotted the ball into the back of the net. It was a huge goal for them in the relegation battle.

10 minutes later, substitute Liam Feeney had an opportunity to grab an equaliser. He found himself with space and time just outside the penalty area. His left foot wrapped around the ball as he tried to curl an effort into the top corner. However, the shot didn’t have the precision or the power to beat Halstead and the keeper caught the ball.

Thompson was the next Iron player to test their luck on goal. Once again the shot came in from the edge of the penalty area. It was well struck but didn’t have the accuracy to beat the goalkeeper. Once again it was a fairly straightforward save for Halstead as the ball was at a nice height for him to palm away from goal.

United continued to search for an equaliser and they created many opportunities. Crosses found their way into the Torquay penalty area. Dean Rance got on the end of one of these and tried to head goalward from six-yards-out. However, the ball was too high for him and it skimmed off the top of his head. This was a huge chance for United to get back into the game.

The visitors kept stalling for time in the closing stages to try and protect their lead. Torquay ran the clock down well and United couldn’t really get hold of the ball.

The referee then blew his whistle to conclude the game. The visitors took away all three points.

Scunthorpe return to action with a trip to Gateshead on Good Friday (3pm kick-off).

IRON: Billson, Ogle, Richards-Everton, Butterfield, Wilson (Wilson, 68), Leake, Thompson, Sembie-Ferris (Feeney, 61), Smith, Rance, Bennett (Elliott, 56).

IRON SUBS NOT USED: Boyce, Shrimpton.

TORQUAY: Halstead, Hall, Jarvis, Evans (Lapslie, 56), Donnellan, Lawrence, Moxey, Stobbs, Dawson (Hanson, 86), Collins, Nouble (Wyatt, 89).

TORQUAY SUBS NOT USED: Lovett, Omar.

ATTENDANCE: 3,467 (158 away).