With four competitive victories on the bounce under their belts, the Iron were looking to keep the festive cheer alive in North Lincolnshire with a Boxing Day clash against the Monkey Hangers, Hartlepool United.
Sitting on the edge of the play-offs themselves, the Pools would be eager to end a barren run of form against the high-flying Iron with former Scunthorpe midfielder Nicky Featherstone still searching for his first win as permanent boss.
With regards to the Scunthorpe team news, it was an unchanged starting XI for Andy Butler's side. With club captain Andrew Boyce dusting off a knock, he picked up during United's victory over Woking last time out, he would be deemed fit to start the fixture. Meaning the only alteration came on the bench as Jean Belehouan returned from a back injury to regain his place in the 18-man squad.
With a change of ends, delaying the start of proceedings at Victoria Park, the hosts were to get the game underway on home turf, and it was fair to say that Featherstone’s Pools started the stronger of the two sides.
Looking to turn their early dominance into a quick-fire opening goal, Hartlepool would venture forward down the left-hand side. This would allow a cutback into the penalty area for late-arriving Adam Campbell, whose acrobatic effort slightly hung in the air before dropping onto the roof of the net, wasting what had been a very promising chance.
Eager to mount an attack of their own following this early warning, Scunthorpe would work the ball onto the flanks through some neat interplay. In an almost identical attack to that of the opening goal at Woking last weekend, Zain Westbrooke would break into the channel to latch onto a pass before hanging the ball up in the danger area for Danny Whitehall, who looped an unmarked header on target but into the grateful grasp of goalkeeper George Evans.
As the half progressed, the two teams were firmly locked in a tight affair, and chances were few and far between until the 30-minute mark, when a sprinkle of Oli Ewing magic saw Scunthorpe begin to take control. Receiving possession with his back to the goal, Ewing would do as he does best, as he twisted and turned into a pocket of space before unleashing a goal-bound strike that appeared to be soaring towards the top corner, if not for the intervention of the head of Tom Parkes to divert the ball away.
With the break approaching, but Scunthorpe now taking the reins, the Iron would go the closest either side had come to opening the scores through Whitehall, who applied his head to good use again when meeting a cross from Ty Sellars-Fleming. Winning the race to the ball ahead of former teammate Maxim Kouogun, Whitehall’s header was well placed, leaving Evans backtracking to try and deny the effort, which he did magnificently by tipping the ball onto the crossbar.
This would be the final notable chance of a shaky opening 45 minutes of action on the north-east coast. However, proceedings would certainly kick up a gear in the second half with Scunthorpe clearly eager to carry their momentum into the new period.
Less than five minutes after the restart, the breakthrough would come for the Iron. Patient in attack, United would move the ball forward at pace, reaching the penalty area with Cal Roberts, who nipped the ball beyond his marker, causing the tackler to bring him down for an obvious penalty. From the resultant spot kick, Roberts would step up to the plate and make no mistake as he superbly dispatched the ball beyond Evans for 1-0.
With the scoreline now in their favour, the Iron would go immediately in search of a second and very nearly found it in spectacular fashion when a fairly hopeful punt forward from Branden Horton was brought under Sellars-Fleming’s spell on the edge of the area, with the loanee forward unleashing an instinctive strike towards the target that forced Evans into a crucial diving stop to keep the ball out.
With 20 minutes of normal time remaining, things would go from good to better for United as their lead was doubled when Roberts snatched possession on the halfway line and drove forward towards the retreating Pools defence. With space to drive into, Roberts would continue his direct run before taking his chance in style from 20 yards as he drove the ball low and hard past Evans to continue his run of goalscoring in the north-east.
Now two goals up without having faced a shot on target for the opening 78 minutes, Scunthorpe’s advantage would be halved by the hosts from seemingly nowhere. Winning both the first a second contact in the final third, Hartlepool would make the most of their first clear-cut opportunity, slotting substitute Matty Daly through on goal, allowing the wide man to sweep the ball beneath Rory Mahady and into the bottom corner to restore hope for the Monkey Hangers.
With the game in its closing stages and Scunthorpe under a wave of pressure, the Iron would pile back in an attempt to see out the three points, something that, after what felt like a lifetime of additional time and defended crosses, would be achieved. A vital three points for Butler’s boys, who increased their gap in the play-offs to a fantastic 11 points.
IRON: Mahady, Horton, Boyce, Whitehall (Howe, 73), Roberts (Scales, 90+8), Rowley, Sellars-Fleming (Ubaezuonu, 73) Ewing (Barrows 87), Starbuck, Westbrooke, Denton.
IRON SUBS: Jones, Belehouan, Brogan.
ATTENDANCE: 4,434 (602 away)
REFEREE: Andrew Miller
