Caolan Lavery grabbed a hat trick to give the Iron a 3-0 win over Maidenhead United.
The Iron returned to Glanford Park for their first home game of 2023 and made two changes from the New Year's Day fixture against Chesterfield.
Owen Foster returned to the side after recovering from injury, while Reagan Ogle also replaced Jai Rowe in the side.
Colin Daniel tested his luck on goal a few minutes later and his effort nearly paid off. A United corner was cleared by Maidenhead but the ball only went as far as Daniel on the edge of the penalty area. He brought the ball down with his first touch and he was quickly closed down. The Iron defender beat his man and curled a left-footed effort towards the bottom-left corner. The ball travelled through many bodies and this made it difficult for Gyollai as he couldn’t see the ball clearly. Daniel’s effort struck the left-upright and rebounded away from danger. He was inches away from putting the Iron in front.
In the 20th minute, the away side got their first chance of the game. A lively Ashley Nathaniel-George beat Ogle and slotted the ball inside to his teammate; space then opened up inside the United penalty area and Kane Ferdinand was played through. He found himself in a one-on-one with Foster and the Iron goalkeeper won the duel. He managed to get a slight touch on the shot and turn it away from goal.
A scramble then followed in the United area and several players had to throw themselves at the ball to keep the scores level. Eventually, the Iron cleared and the chance went for the away side.
Maidenhead continued to push on to try and find the first goal of the game and they pinned Scunthorpe back in their own penalty area. For several minutes, they had to defend deeply and had to block several goalbound shots. Maidenhead threatened early in the first half.
In the 29th minute, the Iron took the lead. Jacob Butterfield drove the Iron up the field and Maidenhead were caught short numbered in defence. Butterfield then laid off an onrushing Cameron Wilson and the winger beat his man on the right-hand flank. He cut inside and faced another Maidenhead defender. This time he chose not to take the defender on and instead he slotted the ball back to Butterfield. Caolan Lavery then received the ball from Butterfield and again he was in a one-on-one situation. Lavery stayed composed and simply slotted the ball into the bottom corner to give United the lead in the game. Butterfield was involved in another big chance minutes later. The ball broke inside the away side’s penalty area and the Iron midfielder latched onto the loose ball. He had to take the shot first time and from six-yards-out he directed the ball towards the top-right corner. His shot wasn’t right in the corner and was fairly central and this made it a comfortable save for Gyollai.
The Iron stayed ahead into the break and they were in a good position to pick up all three points.
The visitors got the second half underway and they were looking to bounce back in the second half. Maidenhead started positively and they found themselves with a corner early on in the half. The ball was lifted into the penalty area and a Maidenhead player got their head to the ball first. He directed the ball down and his powerful header was heading into the bottom corner. Foster was alert to the threat and he got across his goal and caught the ball.
Minutes later, Scunthorpe had a penalty shout after a questionable challenge from a Maidenhead defender. Ogle lifted the ball into the area and Beestin climbed high to try and get his head on the cross. As he jumped he was nudged to the ground and he landed awkwardly. There were shouts from the home fans but there was no signal from the referee and play carried on.
In the 59th minute, United took a two goal lead in the game. Lavery grabbed his second goal. A nice interchange between Beestin and Wilson took several Maidenhead players out of the game and this allowed Lavery to make a run into the area. He played the ball and he slotted the ball past Gyollai and into the net. This gave the home side breathing space in the game.
Wilson drove at the heart of the away side’s defence once again and he had options to his right but this time he chose to take on the shot himself. He chose power over precision and a Maidenhead body got in the way and took the sting out of the shot; this made it a simple save for Gyollai.
Beestin was teed up by Butterfield and he was the next player to try his luck on goal. His first time shot was straight at the away side’s keeper and it was another straightforward save for him to make. His shot was on target but it didn’t have the power or direction to make its way into the back of the net.
The visitors had a big opportunity from another corner. The ball was whipped all the way to the back post and Nathaniel-George was unmarked and rushing in to meet the ball. However, he didn’t make it in time and the ball bounced away from danger. If he had been there a second earlier he would have surely slotted the ball home from three-yards-out.
In the 81st minute, Lavery completed his hat-trick in style with a goal from 40-yards-out. He spotted Gyollai off his line and decided to take on a long shot. The ball bounced up nicely for Lavery to hit on the half volley. He lifted the ball right over the top of the goalkeeper and it bounced into the back of the net. It was an excellent goal and an excellent performance by the Iron striker. The goal was surely a goal of the season contender. Jai Rowe was close to grabbing a fourth goal for the Iron. He found himself inside the area and he took on a shot from 10-yards-out. His shot was heading in but Gyollai was there. He nearly spilled the ball and allowed an Iron player to get there but he reacted quickly to make up for his mistake. That concluded the game.
IRON: Foster, Ogle (78’ Rowe), Boyce, Beestin, Lavery (93’ Poulter), Taft, Butterfield, Wilson, Shrimpton, Daniel, Pugh (95’ Gallimore).
IRON SUBS NOT USED: Dewhurst, O’Malley.
MAIDENHEAD: Gyollai, Asare, De Havilland, Kpekawa, Nathaniel-George, Ferdinand, Acquah, Odutayo (73’ Sparkes), Upward (62’ McCoulsky), Arthur, Adams (73’ Smith).
MAIDENHEAD SUBS NOT USED: Clifton, Massey.
ATTENDANCE: 2,409.