Report: Iron 1-0 FC Halifax Town

In a tight contest with very little to separate the two sides, Scunthorpe triumphed over FC Halifax Town courtesy of a second half Carlton Ubaezuonu deflected strike.

The Iron finally returned to the Attis Arena for the first-time this season for a pre-season encounter with National League side FC Halifax Town who came to North Lincolnshire looking to end United’s winning run of five victories in a row against local opposition.

First team manager Andy Butler continued his theme of heavy rotation that had been seen throughout pre-season so far, as trialist midfielder Aaron Braithwaite was called into the heart of the Scunthorpe midfield in place of Cal Roberts. Another talking point was the unseen strike partnership of Carlton Ubaezuonu and Alfie Beestin, who led the Iron line to begin the encounter.

The visiting Shaymen got the game underway at the Attis Arena, and were expected to be a difficult test for Butler’s Iron. Wearing a training kit from five years prior, Halifax started the game brightly with a flurry of early corners that put Scunthorpe’s defensive line under immediate pressure, but the danger was dealt with professionally.

After the initial stages being a stalemate between the two sides, it was the Iron who forged the first real opportunity of proceedings just before the 20-minute mark. It was a well-worked attacking move from Scunthorpe who broke from deep following Brad Nicholson’s progressive pass into the final third, possession found Beestin on the edge of the area who found the stampeding run of Kian Scales. Under pressure, he fired a quickfire strike into the palms of goalkeeper Sam Johnson.

The first-half affairs were proving to be those of little action to note, this was until the visitors came very close to finding an opener from the trickery of Andrew Oluwabori. The Nigerian had looked lively up to that point, and came very close to scoring when he chopped inside and violently lashed an arrowed effort towards Ross Fitzsimons that dropped just wide of the far post. 

The remainder of first period action would continue in the same back and forth manner and all the way up to the half-time whistle the scores would remain equal due to the lack of attempts on goal, and supporters hopes would’ve been high for a better second 45.

As the teams returned to the turf, United’s players seemed to have been inspired by Butler’s half-time rally as the tempo of the fixture immediately began to escalate across the pitch. 

The first example of this shift in momentum was from a promising Scunthorpe set-piece. A delicate clip into the area from a Jason Law corner saw clearance attempts from the Shaymen defence fail. They could only deflect the ball into the path of Maxim Kouogun, who could only turn the ball onto the post and behind for a goal kick.

After an abundance of substitutions across the board, United were back in search of a goal that would give them the advantage. Fans were made to wait until the 63rd minute for the opener, and it was Ubaezuonu who managed to add to his impressive record so far in claret and blue. Substitute Max Brogan found himself in acres of space on the edge of the area and slotted a calm pass into Ubaezuonu who made no mistake in knocking the ball beyond the 'keeper with a low drive that made it 1-0 despite a deflection.

Following the goal the game would return to how it had been prior with both sides being locked in a tightly contested physical battle across the board. 

For the final 10 minutes of action Scunthorpe would be made to play on the back foot and attempt to hold onto their narrow lead. Halifax were now flooding forward and when former Iron man Tom Pugh dispossessed Kian Scales deep in the Iron’s half, there was serious potential for a Shaymen equaliser as Pugh slotted the ball into the feet of Adan George, who’s wrapped effort only just missed the target.

With the final kick of the game, Halifax had their best attempt on goal all afternoon and it came from a softly given free-kick in a dangerous position. George had been unlucky not to have scored prior and was even more so this time as his dipping effort beat the wall, with the effort clipping the crossbar and bouncing into the stand.

Ruebyn Ricardo’s final whistle would soon follow the effort which would signify another pre-season victory for the Iron and the first at the Attis Arena under Andy Butler’s reign as manager. Now his side look ahead to another encounter with higher league opposition as United travel to Hartlepool on Tuesday night.

IRON XI: Fitzsimons, Nicholson, Kouogun, Boyce (Evans, 65), Clunan (Shrimpton, 72), Beestin (Roberts, 65), Ubaezuonu (Fishburn, 72), Scales, Law (Kelly, 55), Barrows (Brogan, 55), Braithwaite (Rowley, 52).