Following a dominant victory over National League North outfit Spennymoor Town the weekend prior, Scunthorpe would feature in a behind-closed-doors bounce game against Championship side Derby County this afternoon.
The Rams fielded a youthful side that consisted of some experienced faces, along with a number of highly rated prospects looking to get minutes in the legs against the Iron.
The game was set underway by the hosting Rams at the fantastic Moor Farm training facility and in the early exchanges the sides jousted for a foothold in the fixture. Chances were few and far between early on until United stepped up a gear and began to try and break down the Derby defence.
The first chance of the game would come through the Iron being persistent down the right flank. After Joey Dawson retained possession in a promising position he would thread the ball through to Whitehall inside the County penalty area, the striker would go on to back hell the ball into the path of his strike partner Carlton Ubaezuonu, who from close range saw his effort pushed away from goal by experienced goalkeeper Josh Vickers.
Throughout the first-half the Iron were experiencing the majority of their joy from wide areas and almost created another fantastic chance to take the lead when a cross into the penalty area found the rising leap of defender Andrew Boyce at the far post, under pressure from his marker Boyce was always reaching to connect with the cross and could only steer the ball over the crossbar.
As the half progressed the Rams would start to grow into the game more and should’ve really gone ahead in the fixture following a cunning counter attack. After forward Dajuane Brown latched onto a lofted pass in behind the Scunthorpe defence he would look to slot the ball back across the box for the Derby left winger, with recovering defenders to beat the forward would look to drive a shot through the crowd of bodies that was brilliantly kept out by the outstretched foot of Maison Campbell.
With the first period of what had been a tightly contested encounter coming to a close, the hosts would have one final chance to break the deadlock with another breakaway. When a County midfielder stole a loose ball in the Scunthorpe half he would drive into the penalty area and look to square possession to a team mate in Navy Blue. With a Derby forward poised to tap the ball into a seemingly open goal, he would see the ball snatched away from him by the recovering Max Brogan who managed to frantically clear the ball to keep the scores level.
This would bring an end to the first-half and when the sides returned for the second-period United would head into the half with an almost completely refreshed team.
The fresh legs of Scunthorpe would look to stretch their opponents in the minutes that followed the break and it appeared to have worked when Whitehall tucked home what would’ve been the games opening goal. It was Alfie Beestin that threaded through the Iron’s number 9 who was never in doubt to lash the ball beyond Vickers, only for play to be pulled back as Whitehall had been deemed offside prior to providing the finish to a well worked move.
Throughout the second-half the teams continued to be engaged in a fierce battle with neither team managing to come anywhere near the breakthrough. The closest either team would come to testing the others defence was when a flurry of County corners eventually allowed midfielder Harry Hawkins to try his luck with a volley from the edge of the Scunthorpe box, the former Telford loanee’s goal bound effort was struck cleanly but would be crucially blocked by a United defender in the crowd of bodies infront of goal.
As the game progressed into its latter stages the hosts would make numerous changes and begin to flood forward in search of an opener. Campbell would again be called into action by the Derby forward like, as a fantastic cross from the right-flank found the previously mentioned winger who was given a free header on goal from a matter of yards out. However Campbell sprung into life to produce a sublime save, pushing the ball well away from the target.
With fixture in its final stages neither team wanted to make a mistake that would see them lose the pre-season fixture. However, the hosts would have one final opportunity as a fantastic through ball would carve open the Scunthorpe defence leaving Campbell the last line of a defence against a fast approaching forward. As the Derby forward settled himself to try and beat the Scunthorpe goalkeeper, Campbell would stand firm to deny an attempted chip over him with what was a splendid save to decide the fate of the fixture.
The referee’s final whistle would soon follow this opportunity, bringing a tough contest for United to its end. It was another pleasing result for the Iron who gained more valuable minutes in the legs before concluding their pre-season preparations with a trip to National League North outfit Worksop Town this weekend.
