The Iron were looking to build on their midweek 3-2 victory over promotion hopefuls Brackley Town this afternoon when they welcomed a play-off pushing South Shields team to the Attis Arena.
The Mariners came into the fixture on the back of a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Northern rivals Darlington so would’ve been looking for a statement performance against United.
Scunthorpe named an unchanged starting XI for the third consecutive fixture following a recent run of promising performances. The only alteration to the Iron squad from Tuesday night came in the form left-back Michael Kelly who returned to fitness and made his way straight onto the bench to provide further defensive stability when required.
The Iron got proceedings underway on home soil and both sides set about trying to break down their opponents with a number of progressive counter-attacks. However, neither outfit was able to make effective use of their possession in the opening ten minutes.
It wouldn’t be long before United would take the lead in the game and would do so with pretty much their first attack. It was Joe Rowley who dispossessed the Shields midfielder and slotted Cal Roberts into the final-third, the winger skipped past two defenders and laid the ball into the path of Rowley in a fantastic position so score and the midfielder would do just that with a calmly taken finish that crept beneath Myles Boney to break the deadlock.
Despite this early goal for the hosts Elliott Dickman’s side wouldn’t be disheartened as they would strike back within a matter of minutes. Who else would it be to tie up the game but the prolific Paul Blackett, the league’s top goal scorer burst in behind the United defence and was never in doubt when hammering the ball home for 1-1.
On the 20th minute mark, the Iron would be given a golden opportunity to regain their advantage through Roberts. After a fantastic cross towards the back post avoided the outstretched boot of defender Tom Broadbent the ball found the disguised run of Scunthorpe’s top scorer in the penalty area who attempted to catch out Boney with a low driven effort that the goalkeeper dug out brilliantly with a strong palm down to his left.
Roberts was doing an excellent job at tormenting the Shields defence and did so again at just past the half hour mark when he latched onto a spectacular Alfie Beestin lofted pass into the area which he tucked past Boney with relative ease. Despite the excellent composure from Roberts, he would be denied his goal by assistant referee Waqar Ahmad who deemed him offside.
It appeared only a matter of time until Roberts opened his account for the afternoon, and he would finally do so on the stroke of half-time. Roberts’ neat finish to the keepers' near post wouldn’t have been possible without an outstanding trivela pass from Michael Clunan that found the perfectly timed run of Roberts who did the rest in style by leaving Boney stranded to the spot.
After the half-time break Scunthorpe would maintain the momentum that the second goal had provided and were sent in immediate search of their third goal and a much-needed cushion.
The Iron were awarded a free-kick on the touchline in a more than promising position, with set-piece quality such as Roberts and Clunan stood over the ball the delivery was bound to be perfect and was just that when it was sensationally clipped into the danger area and found the untraced run of Whitehall at the near post who skilfully steered the ball past Boney and into the far corner to increase Scunthorpe’s advantage.
United were in complete control of proceedings in the second period and the introduction of several substitutions were Andy Butler’s attempt to try and kill the game off with fresh legs. One of these particular alterations would be Mo Fadera who almost made an instant impact off the bench with a well hit volley from 20 yards that was sent spiralling down the throat of Boney who did well to claim the ball under pressure.
With 10 minutes remaining of the fixture things began to get hairy for Scunthorpe as Shields pulled a goal back out of seemingly nowhere, it was Mackenzie Healey who acquired the goal as he slid into nick the ball past Fitzsimons and into the bottom corner to give his side hope.
As Scunthorpe defended for their lives the Mariners were becoming more and more desperate to equalise and had a perfect chance to do at the death when Blackett rose highest in the area and steered a direct header at Fitzsimons who produced a sensational save to deny Shields' star.
The final whistle would soon follow to relieve the Iron faithful and as a result gave Scunthorpe a fantastic victory on home soil. This would make it three games unbeaten for United who were more than happy to take the result into Tuesday nights fixture with Needham Market in what will be the perfect occasion for Andy Butler’s side to extend this recent run of form.
IRON: Fitzsimons, Kouogun, Boyce (Evans, 45), Clunan (Kelly, 74), Beestin (Ubaezuonu, 67), Whitehall (Beck, 67), Roberts (Fadera, 73), Rowley, Scales, Denton, Rose.
