Football Is Back! Was the message on everyone’s lips this afternoon as the Iron kickstarted their Vanarama National League North campaign with a highly anticipated encounter with prospected promotion rivals Brackley Town.
First-team manager Andy Butler had an almost full-strength squad for selection for his first competitive game in charge of United. The word almost was as fitting as ever as new addition and pre-season star Carlton Ubaezuonu was deemed suspended prior to kick-off due to a red card he’d acquired during his time with former club Chorley. Other than that Scunthorpe were prepped and ready to start their season.
The Iron were to set proceedings underway and as the case last season there was little to separate the two promotion chasing outfits during the opening minutes.
Possession and stages of play continued to be exchanged throughout the opening 15 minutes at St James Park as both sides main attacking threats Morgan Roberts and Callum Roberts were finding pockets well and were threatening when doing so.
With 17 minutes on the clock the Iron would break the deadlock with their first goal of the 2024-25 season. Some scrappy play on the edge of the area allowed the ball to find the feet of Kian Scales in the middle of the park, the energetic midfielder set himself and fired a low driven strike into the palms of Jonny Maxted who could only push the ball back into the path of striker Alfie Beestin who reacted quickest to tap the ball into the gaping goal for 1-0.
After the first goal Brackley seemed bizarrely content to allow United to keep possession within their own half and this was a welcome invitation for Butler’s boys as they continued to move the ball around with attacking intent.
Throughout the first period Brackley were being perfectly contained by the Scunthorpe defence and in the words of BBC Radio Humberside’s Ollie Turner: “With a central defender in charge Scunthorpe looked much more secure with set-pieces.” And this statement was certainly true as the hosts signature long-throw from George Carline was being dealt with on every occasion.
No further chances of note would fall to either side in the first half as proceedings were brought to a halt by referee Luis Griffiths after brandishing a yellow card to Danny Whitehall for a late foul on Saints' skipper Gareth Dean.
As the two outfits returned to the field of play for the second period, United appeared to have made an alteration in the centre of midfield as Roberts made way for youthful option Max Brogan who came on to make his Iron debut after an impressive pre-season campaign.
Straight from the off the hosts set out to find a much-needed equaliser and came awfully close to doing so on numerous occasions within the same minute. A slotted pass found the feet of Roberts in acres of space in behind the Iron backline, under pressure Roberts drove a shot toward goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons who palmed the ball the ball away, however the danger was far from over for United as a poor touch from Michael Clunan allowed Saints man Alfie Bates to drive another effort towards goal that was fantastically cleared away by Brad Nicholson on the line. Finally, after some moments of manic the ball was finally swept away by Tyler Denton after Fitzsimons, had been called back into action to deny a Carline strike from the edge of the area.
After that lucky escape for United it appeared to be a wake-up call for the forward line as plans to double their advantage were set in motion. Beestin was taking centre stage on the afternoon and fantastically clipped a pass into the feet of Danny Whitehall in behind the Brackley defence and the striker had most of the travelling fanbase celebrating as his ambitious volley from the edge of the area caused the wrong side of the net to ripple.
Brackley were continuing to threaten on the break and did so from an Iron corner, a long-lofted ball found Roberts with just Tyler Denton to beat deep in the Scunthorpe half, Roberts drove at his marker and seemed to have beaten the left-wing back only for Denton to deny a certain goalscoring opportunity with a sensational recovery challenge that had to be and was timed to perfection in the area.
With Brackley failing to convert any of the chances they’d created, United needed to make the most of theirs and did so in the 61st minute in sublime fashion. Some neat interplay between Brogan and the Scunthorpe skipper Clunan allowed the first name mentioned to whip a scintillating cross into the danger zone that landed perfectly onto the head of Beestin who had but to direct his effort on target to obtain his second goal of the day.
Scunthorpe were now playing with some serious confidence and proceeded to advance in numbers into the Brackley final third. Danny Whitehall had been in a tightly contested battle with Gareth Dean all game long and managed to earn a free-kick for his side off his contestant in a dangerous area. Clunan stood over the set-piece and hung a delightful cross toward the back post for the steaming run of Andrew Boyce who nearly ripped the goal from its hinges by rifling a superb left-footed effort past Maxted and into the roof of the net to make it 3-0.
Butler would’ve been more than pleased with his side’s performance on the day and with 20 minutes of play remaining major emphasis would’ve been placed on preserving their lead and maintaining their clean sheet. Do this Scunthorpe would, despite an onslaught of late Brackley pressure as they stood firm and really limited their opponents to any chances and would confirm a 3-0 victory on the opening day of the 2024-25 season.
IRON XI: Fitzsimons, Nicholson, Kouogun, Boyce, Clunan, Beestin (Rowley, 81), Whitehall (Fishburn, 77), Roberts (Brogan, 45), Scales (Evans, 89), Denton (Kelly 70) , Barrows.
