The Iron were back on the road for their Bank Holiday Monday fixture as they were set to face play-off hopefuls South Shields.
The Mariners had experienced a mixed bag of results to start the campaign and in doing so had obtained six points from a possible twelve. Scunthorpe came into the tie looking to return to winning ways after a disappointing draw with Chorley two days prior.
In regard to team news, first team manager Andy Butler would make a medley of changes to his side from the previous game. Firstly, striker Carlton Ubaezuonu was promoted to the starting XI for his first start in claret and blue in order to replace Alfie Beestin. Along with this, another change was made on the flanks as Tyler Denton dropped to the bench with Scotsman Michael Kelly coming into the line-up in order to gain vital minutes. Lastly, Butler would choose to rest central defender Andrew Boyce who missed out altogether, to replace Boyce and command the defence would be the equally experienced Will Evans.
From the off the sides were locked in a nail-biting affair both the Iron and the Mariners were playing some scintillating football and were taking it in turns to test one another defensively.
The first chance of the game would fall to Shields on the 14th minute mark when winger Kyle Crossley stole the ball inside the United final third and worked himself an inch of space just inside the penalty area, with the ball out his feet Crossley stung a low effort towards Ross Fitzsimons that the shot stopper traced all the way into side netting.
Following this opportunity United would fall upon a period of dominance for the next twenty minutes. Over the course of this sustained possession Scunthorpe would create a number of chances, the first of which would be a lofted ball from Cal Roberts that found the well-timed run of Ubaezuonu in behind. With one defender to beat the Irishman chose to work the ball onto his left foot but could only fire his effort well over the crossbar.
Next, Roberts would be the orchestrator again in the midfield as he punished the hosts naïve defending with a clipped pass into the run of Kian Scales on the edge of the area, Scales beat his opponent's offside trap and lashed a powerful first-time volley towards goal that had keeper Myles Boney well beaten until the crossbar intervened to deny the Iron a superb opening goal.
With Scunthorpe continuously knocking on the home sides door it seemed only a matter of time until a whole was punched through the Shields blockade, and it would eventually happen in the 35th minute. Roberts would be rewarded for his offensive patience as after a fast-flowing Iron attack, Whitehall’s strike would flick up off an opposing defender and drop kindly to the Roberts in the middle of the penalty area who caught the ball nicely and smashed it beyond Boney to make it 1-0.
In the first-half’s last action the Iron would forge the chance to double their lead and who else would it be but Roberts to end a superb display. The midfielder glided into the Shields area and under pressure waved his wand of a left foot to help him escape from a tight space and sting an effort into the gloves of Boney who got down well to deny the shot.
After the break United would get back to work in their hunt for a second goal of the afternoon and picked up where they left off with an onslaught of early chances.
The first opportunity that test the former Blackpool man Boney would be from Ubaezuonu breaking the Shields defensive line once more. After retrieving the loose ball, Carlton would twist this way and that to open that space and he attempted to place the ball across Boney with a driven effort that was comfortably tipped away by the shot stopper.
Following this, Butler would call for the aid of his substitutes and would change his shape in order to try and protect his sides slender advantage with a large chunk of time still remaining for the hosts to find an equaliser.
For the next twenty minutes South Shields would enter cruise control and took complete charge of the proceedings. In search of a route back into the tie the Mariners manufactured a golden opportunity through the relentlessness of star man Paul Blackett who received a lofted pass in the area and knocked a strike towards goal that was somehow denied by an outstretched Fitzsimons to preserve Scunthorpe’s lead.
With ten minutes of action remaining a goal to relieve the pressure was certainly required if United were to see out the result. After Scales picked up possession deep within his own half he would go on a marauding run down the field and dispatch the ball to Kelly on the left-flank, after a touch to steady himself Kelly would swing a delightful ball to the back post where Whitehall would be waiting to knock the ball back to substitute Beestin in the six-yard box who had but to tap the ball home for an all-important second.
With time running out for Shields to find a route back into the tie Fitzsimons would be called into action once again to deny Blackett, who was brilliantly threaded through by Stockport loanee Jid Okeke only to see his low driven strike turned away by Fitzsimons in what was an excellent save so preserve his clean sheet and seal the three points for the Iron.
IRON: Fitzsimons, Nicholson, Kelly, Kouogun, Evans, Clunan, Whitehall (Law, 90), Roberts (Beestin, 63), Ubaezuonu (Brogan, 76), Scales (Denton, 90) Barrows (Fishburn, 90+4).
