The Iron grabbed three points after a 2-0 win against Altrincham on Tuesday night.
United made three changes from Saturday’s game against Eastleigh. Elliott Whitehouse returned to the squad along with Liam Feeney and Cameron Wilson. Altrincham came to Glanford Park sat in 12th position and they found themselves in good form of late, although were beaten 4-0 at Wealdstone last weekend.
Jacob Butterfield got the game underway and the first chance fell the way of the home side. Harvey Bunker found himself with time and space at around 25-yards from goal. He scouted the area around him and realised he had no options so he chose to take the shot on. His shot looked dangerous and it looked as though it was going to end up in the top right corner. However, his effort lacked a bit of direction and it went just inches wide of the target.
In the eighth minute, Butterfield was presented with a chance to put the Iron in the lead. He drove at the heart of the Altrincham defence and they kept backing off him. The Iron midfielder kept on advancing before unleashing a left footed strike from the edge of the area. His effort flew over the bar and Oliver Byrne simply stood and watched the ball go behind.
The Iron piled a lot of pressure on Altrincham and pinned them back in their own half and at this point in the game they were looking like the team more likely to take the lead in the game.
With 21 minutes gone, Feeney picked up the ball on the edge of the Iron area and drove all the way to the halfway line before finding Wilson on the right-hand flank. His through ball was met by Wilson and the Iron winger attempted to advance closer to goal. He took on his man and managed to create enough space for the shot; he took on the shot but the defender recovered and managed to get an important block in to stop the ball heading goalwards.
Then Altrincham created another chance and they nearly put themselves ahead from it. The ball was whipped in from the left flank and Tyrese Sinclair was rushing in at the back post to meet it. The ball rolled all the way across the Iron penalty area before Sinclair met it. He chose to strike the ball first time; he connected well with it and it was heading into the back of the net. However, an Iron defender threw themselves at the shot and made the block to deny the visitors a goal.
Then the away side had a penalty shout. Hulme cut inside from the left-flank and drove into the penalty area. He was faced by Will Smith. The Altrincham striker tapped the ball around Smith and the Iron defender stepped across his man to win the ball cleanly. However, Hulme went down and was looking for a penalty but his cries were waved away by the referee and the game continued.
In additional time at the end of the first half, United were close to taking the lead. The ball was lifted into the box by Feeney and the visitors managed to get their head to the ball and clear their lines. However, the ball fell on the edge of the area and broke loose. Bunker was the first player to react and this meant that he had the chance for a shot on goal. He took on a first time shot and he chose to drill his shot across the ground. It was heading towards the target but on the way it took several deflections and this caused problems for Byrne. The Altrincham keeper had to react quickly to the deflections. He managed to anticipate where the ball would go and he made a very important reaction save that kept the scores level.
Within the first few minutes of the second half, United had taken the lead. Richie Bennett managed to turn the ball home. Wilson drove a cross into the area and Feeney was the Iron player to get on the end of it. From close distance, he directed the ball goalward but it was saved by Byrne. Byrne couldn’t hold onto the ball and it rebounded to Bennett. The Iron striker had an empty net to aim at and he simply tapped the ball into the net to give the Iron the lead. It was a huge goal for the Iron.
Immediately, United set after chasing a second goal. They put a lot of pressure on the away side. Bennett lifted a ball into the box for United to attack and Ben Richards-Everton was the player to get a head to the ball. He tried to direct the ball into the top-right corner of the goal but his header lacked direction and power. He would have been disappointed as he watched his effort creep wide of the target. Even if it was on target it didn’t have the power to trouble Byrne.
In the 63rd minute, Sinclair tried his luck at goal as he looked to grab the equaliser. The winger found himself inside the Scunthorpe penalty area and he managed to find some space within it. His best option was to take on the shot as he had no other options. That is exactly what he did. He was at a very tight angle which didn’t favour him and his effort ended up going miles wide of the target.
Then, in the middle of the second half, Sean Shields was handed a home debut by Jimmy Dean. The Iron winger replaced Feeney.
In the 75th minute, United grabbed a second goal. This time Will Smith was the player to grab the goal. Butterfield whipped an outswinging corner into the area. His cross was driven low in the air and this allowed Smith to connect with the ball on the volley at the near post. His volley had a lot of power and it curled towards the far corner. The ball struck the inside of the upright and spun just across the line. The ball only just crossed the line and this created a bit of controversy but the referee looked over to his lineman and the assistant referee had stated the ball had crossed the line. This goal gave United breathing space in the game.
There were four added minutes at the end of the second period. In this period, the visitors got themselves up the field to try and grab a goal back but they wasted their opportunity by misplacing a pass.
The Iron comfortably saw the game out and took away all three points. They return to action when they visit Solihull next Tuesday.
IRON: Chapman, Ogle, Whitehouse (Pugh, 64), Feeney (Shields, 69), Richards-Everton, Butterfield, Wilson, Leake, Bunker, Smith, Bennett (Eillott, 79).
IRON SUBS NOT USED: Boyce, Shrimpton.
ALTRINCHAM: Byrne, Jones, Marriott, Ferguson, Lundstram, Hulme, Osborne, Pringle (Cashman, 83), Jones, Perritt (Bennett, 66), Sinclair (Linney, 75).
ALTRINCHAM SUBS NOT USED: Gould, Baines.
ATTENDANCE: 2,545 (68 away).