The Iron lost 2-0 to Woking on Saturday afternoon at Glanford Park.
United returned to Glanford Park just a week after a convincing win over Maidenhead United. This time they faced a strong Woking side who sat fourth in the table. The Iron made no changes to the starting lineup as Michael Nelson wanted to stick with the winning team from last Saturday. Woking came into the game in form as they had won four of their past five league games.
Jacob Butterfield got the game underway for the Iron. United were looking to get their second win in a row and climb the league table.
In the sixth minute of the game, Woking took the lead. Solomon Nwabuokei picked up the ball around the halfway line and he spotted Rhys Browne making a run through the centre of the Iron defence. He slotted the ball through to Browne and the Woking forward used his pace to reach the through ball. He found himself in a one on one situation with Owen Foster and the United keeper rushed out to try and deal with the danger but Browne slotted the ball around him and into the bottom right corner.
Scunthorpe had to endure a lot of Woking pressure early on in the game. Minutes later, the away side earned themselves a corner after a Colin Daniel block. From the corner they lifted the ball to the back post and Joe McNerney had a free header. He directed the ball back across goal and it beat Foster and went into the back of the net. Woking thought they had grabbed a second goal but the referee saw a foul in the build up to the goal and this meant that it was disallowed and a free kick was given the way of the Iron.
The first yellow card of the game went to Dan Moss after a very late tackle on Finley Shrimpton. The midfielder was pressured by Moss and this forced him to clear the ball away from danger. After the ball had gone the challenge came in and Shrimpton was hacked to the ground. It was a deserved yellow card.
United got their first chance of the game a few minutes later. Butterfield found himself on the left flank and he decided to cut inside on his favoured right foot. He found out he had time and space and therefore he chose to take on the shot from distance. The Iron midfielder struck the ball cleanly and it had the power but not the direction. Craig Ross saw the ball fly past his right-hand post and the chance had gone.
The home side kept trying to create chances and grab the equaliser. They managed to pin Woking back in their own half and United had many set pieces and therefore they had the chance to create chances but the delivery into the penalty area wasn’t good enough and a Woking head got to the ball every time and cleared.
In the 41st minute, Cameron Wilson crossed into the area and Caolan Lavery was charging in at the back post. The ball in was dangerous and it had to be dealt with by Ross. If the goalkeeper hadn’t intercepted the cross then Lavery would have had a free header from four-yards-out and he would have surely put the Iron level.
The visitors got the second half underway but it was the Iron who started the half off the brightest. Wilson led a counter attack with his direct dribbling and he tried to create a chance for the Iron. He laid the ball off to Tom Pugh but he was the wrong option as he was closed down quickly by the Woking defence. He attempted to cross into the area but the block was made by the defence and danger was then cleared.
United were beginning to put the pressure on once again and they managed to win a corner after a bit of good work from Pugh on the right-flank. Butterfield overhit the corner but United kept the ball and forced Woking to concede another corner. However, the corner was defended well by the visitors and they cleared their lines.
Foster was called into action a few minutes later. Goalscorer Browne once again found himself in a one on one with the Iron goalkeeper. This time he was only eight-yards from goal and it seemed to be an easier chance for him. Foster rushed out once again to narrow the angle and he made an incredible reflex save to direct the ball over the bar.
Then Woking created a great chance and should have gone two-nil-up. A pinpoint cross into the area found Padraig Amond and he had a completely free head in the centre of the box. He directed his effort goalward and it looped over the bar. He probably should have done better with the chance as he had all the time in the world to pick his spot.
They soon grabbed a second goal through Amond. He made up for missing his earlier chance by scoring a very nice goal from the edge of the Iron penalty area. He found himself with time and space on the edge of the area and this allowed him time to look up and pick the spot where he wanted to put the ball. Amond curled his right-footed effort into the bottom right corner and all Foster could do was watch. This gave Woking breathing space in the game.
The Iron looked to respond immediately and Daniel lifted a ball over the away side’s defence for Lavery to run onto. United’s striker took the ball into his stride and tried to curl the ball into the top corner but his effort went wide of the target. If the ball went in the net it wouldn’t have counted anyway as the linesman’s flag rose up into the air as Lavery was offside.
United continued to battle to try and get back into the game but they couldn’t grab a goal and the game finished two-nil to Woking.
IRON: Foster, Ogle, Boyce, Beestin, Lavery, Taft, Butterfield (66’ Poulter), Wilson, Shrimpton (45’ Gallimore), Daniel, Pugh.
IRON SUBS NOT USED: Oxborough, O’Malley, Rowe.
WOKING: Ross, Casey, Cuthbert, McNerney, Daly, Amond, Moss (45’ Dackers), Browne (88’ Lofthouse), O’Connell, Nwabuokei (93’ Roles), Kellermann.
WOKING SUBS NOT USED: Korboa, Johnson.
ATTENDANCE: 2,825.