Following last weekend’s disappointing defeat at the hands of Radcliffe, the Iron were back on home soil for today’s fixture in the National League North.
Following a week of determined training, United were recharged and ready to take on a play-off hunting Spennymoor Town side who came into the fixture full of confidence following their recent FA Trophy endeavours.
With regards to Scunthorpe’s team news for the encounter, first-team manager Andy Butler opted to make one singular alteration to the side from the previous match with Irish forward Carlton Ubaezuonu dropping to the bench in what was a straight swap for talented Gambian winger Mo Fadera, who was handed just his third start in claret and blue to try and break down the Moors defence.
As proceedings were set underway at the Attis Arena, United immediately got to work grinding down the Spennymoor backline with a relentless period of sustained attack that would present several chances for Scunthorpe’s attacking trio.
The first of these chances would be crafted by the previously mentioned Fadera who broke down the left-flank with less than five minutes on the clock. After completing his signature chop inside to glide beyond a covering defender, the winger attempted to ark a finessed effort into the top corner that soared marginally wide of the goalkeepers far post.
As the game reached the five-minute mark it had been all Scunthorpe, and another opportunity would arise for them to give themselves a more than deserved lead. This time it would be star man Cal Roberts to test the Moors defence as he was cleverly slotted in behind courtesy of a fantastic through ball. With possession landing perfectly at the feet of Roberts inside the area, he attempted to flash a clear-cut shot towards Rohan Luthra that failed to trouble the keeper as it flew wide of the mark.
With United’s onslaught of the Spennymoor goal continuing, it was becoming increasingly obvious that the first goal of the game was only a matter of time away. It would finally arrive in the 18th minute when Fadera came inside from the left before teeing the ball up for inform right-back Michael Kelly, with the ball setting up kindly following his first touch Kelly would strike across the ball with a brilliant daisy cutter that arrowed towards Luthra, the effort was hit with such quality that it evaded the shot stoppers desperate attempt to claw the ball away and nestled in the net to give the Iron the lead.
With half an hour gone the Moors would mount an attempt for an equaliser when left-back Reece Staunton set off on a marauding run down the left-hand side. With nothing but green grass to explore Staunton would attempt to hang a pinpoint cross into the penalty area where Corey McKeown’s lurking run at the back post was undetected, the ball would find McKeown leaving him with a simple header from close range that he somehow could only steer wide of the post.
With the half coming to its close the Iron would come close to doubling their lead when a loose ball landed at the feet of Tyler Denton on the edge of the Spennymoor box. Denton and Kelly are often competing for their place on the field but on this occasion, they were competing for goal of the day as the left-back brought down the ball and sent a stunning volleyed effort at goal that was flying toward the top corner, this was until the last gasp intervention of Luthra who palmed the ball away from the target with a fine save.
When the teams returned to the field of play for the second half the Iron were made to weather the storm in the early exchanges but would return to the front foot rather quickly with another swift forward-thinking attack.
It was end-to-end from Scunthorpe who defended valiantly to keep the Moors at bay, before Denton was released quickly down the left-hand side with just Joe Rowley ahead of him in support. As Rowley galloped through the channel, he received a sensational lofted pass from Denton to send him in behind and through on goal. Still under pressure from the recovering Ben Beals, Rowley raced into the penalty area and set himself to pull the trigger, this was until Beals produced an outstanding tackle from behind to diffuse the situation.
With half an hour remaining, the visitors would have their best chance yet to draw level when they were almost rewarded for their persistence in attack. It was former Middlesbrough academy man Junior Mondal who tested Ross Fitzsimons as he robbed possession 20 yards from goal and attempted to fire a low driven effort into the bottom corner that was comfortably dealt with by the calm and collected Fitzsimons.
As the second half progressed the Iron continued to battle against their opponents and refused to surrender the advantage they’d worked so hard to protect. Despite doing a lot of hanging on United would reap their rewards in the closing stages by doubling their advantage thanks to a goal from substitute Carlton Ubaezuonu. After picking the ball up on the left, the forward would brilliantly skin his marker with a subtle turn of pace allowing him with the space to let fly. As soon as the curling effort left his weaker right-foot the Attis Arena erupted as it always looked like finding the bottom corner, as Ubaezuonu scored his fifth league goal of the campaign to send the Scunthorpe faithful into the rafters.
This would be the final action of the fixture as the hard work and determination of Butler’s Iron shone through in abundance to earn them another massive three points in the hunt for promotion with just three crucial fixtures remaining.
IRON: Fitzsimons, Kelly (Starbuck, 90+4), Kouogun, Evans, Clunan, Beestin (Ubaezuonu, 80), Roberts, Rowley, Scales (Boyce, 90+2), Fadera ( Beck, 69), Denton.
IRON UNUSED SUBS: Campbell.
