With the 2025-26 season opener at Tamworth fast approaching for the Iron, Andy Butler would be keen to get more minutes in the legs of his players along with what was bound to be another physical encounter with the Lilywhites of Skegness.
Following defeat at the hands of Gainsborough Trinity the weekend prior, United would look to get back to winning ways while sporting their brand new home strip for the first time at the Vertigo Stadium.
It was the Iron who got the game underway with an impressive start to proceedings that saw them create chances from the get-go.
Firstly, Scunthorpe would come close to testing their oppositions goalkeeper through a fast-paced attack down the right that allowed Kian Scales to produce an effort, after steaming onto a pass on the edge of the box Scales could only power his effort marginally wide of the target from a good position.
United would nearly live to regret their missed chances in be early exchanges when the hosts were very unfortunate not to go ahead. It was a pinpoint cross into the box that found the head of a Skegness player who nodded the ball down towards Rory Watson’s bottom corner, only for it to cannon back off the post before being luckily swept away by the Iron.
From this point onwards Scunthorpe would take complete control of the fixture and were good value for the lead that appeared to be on the horizon. Prior to the first goal of the game United would send another warning shot to the hosts after Billy Chadwick’s sensational winding run that parted the Lilywhites defence, which allowed him to slot the ball into the path of Max Brogan in the area who could only produce a smart stop by goalkeeper Jake Lovelace.
The Iron wouldn’t be made to wait long for the opening goal following this chance as on the 25th minute mark they would be awarded a penalty for a handball. From the resultant spot-kick Cal Roberts would step up and calmly dispatch the ball past Lovelace to give United a 1-0 lead.
As half-time approached the game would begin to get slightly tasty. With tackles flying around the game was briefly paused by the referee with a Skegness defender being very fortunate not to be shown a red card for an attempted horror challange on trialist Okera Simmonds.
Simmonds luckily escaped the challenge unharmed and unphased and would go on to double Scunthorpe’s lead on the stroke of half-time. As United broke down the left-flank Roberts would work space to slot the ball across to Simmonds on the edge of the Skegness area, without even having to take a touch the former Liverpool man lashed the ball beyond Lovelace with nothing but pure power and In doing so gave the Iron a 2-0 lead going into the break.
As the second-half got underway it would take a matter of minutes for United to be presented with another penalty and the chance to extend their lead further. Roberts had been fouled to win the spot-kick and on this occasion when he confidently stepped up he would be sublimely denied by Lovelace, with the shot stopper leaping to his left to bat the ball away from the target.
Following this chance there would be confusion to add to the game as the hosts should’ve been reduced to ten men when defender Bailey Dilley was shown a second yellow card for dissent. However, in order to keep the integrity of the friendly fixture Skegness were allowed to instead substitute Dilley to keep it at 11v11 - a decision which was requested to the officials by both teams.
Scunthorpe would go on to make full scale changes with just over half an hour remaining in the fixture, the fresh legs of the United reinforcements would prove to be too much for the hosts who simply couldn’t handle the constant pressure that the substitutes brought to proceedings.
Since joining the action Joey Dawson had looked comfortable in possession and when he picked up possession just inside the Skegness area he would be given the chance to make it three. A skilful chop would provide Dawson with the space to fire a shot off and when he eventually pulled the trigger he would see his shot crucially blocked by a recovering defender.
With 67 minutes on the clock United would somehow fail to add to their lead after a sensationally crafted attack found Oli Ewing with space to tee up Brogan on the edge of the Lilywhites penalty area. As the Scunthorpe midfielder came steaming onto the ball he would attempt to hammer the ball past Lovelace, however a subtle deflection managed to just turn the ball around the post to keep the score at 2-0.
As time progressed the ball would finally end up in the Skegness net once again, as Scunthorpe forward Declan Howe latched onto the seconds of a fantastic save from Lovelace who denied Dawson from close range, Howe would be deemed offside by the linesman who denied United of a more than deserved third.
Howe’s persistence infront of goal would eventually pay off in the minutes that followed as he finally broke through the Skegness blockade to make it 3-0. The former Gainsborough Trinity front man fantastically rose highest in the penalty area to meet Tyler Denton’s pinpoint cross before nodding the ball beyond the rooted Lovelace.
With the game in its closing stages and Scunthorpe seemingly out of sight, the hosts would be presented with a chance to claw back a consolation. After a neat pass slotted the Skegness striker through on goal all the forward had to do was place the ball beyond Rory Watson. However, Watson would magnificently keep his clean sheet in tact with a smart leg save to turn the ball away from the target.
This would be the final action of the fixture as the referee's whistle soon sounded and in doing so confirmed the Iron's return to winning ways after another comfortable, yet impressive display.
IRON: Watson, Horton (Boyce, 58), Belehouan (Evans, 58), Roberts (Dawson, 58), Eze (Denton, 58), Brogan (Horton, 73), Beck (Whitehall, 71), Scales (Ewing, 58), Starbuck (Shipstone, 58), Chadwick (Beestin, 58), Simmonds (Howe, 58).
IRON UNUSED SUBS: Campbell.
