Following a valiant performance in the FA Cup against Blackpool last weekend and their midweek encounter with Rochdale postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, the Iron were finally back in league action this afternoon, welcoming Yeovil Town to the Attis Arena, looking for a victory that had the potential to lift them to the top of the Enterprise National League standings.
Two changes to the Scunthorpe side that featured in the FA Cup last weekend. Due to slight knocks, both midfielder Oli Ewing and vice-captain Cal Roberts were unfortunately missing from action, subsequently replaced by Doncaster Rovers loanee Zain Westbrooke and forward Declan Howe, with both alterations looking to make an immediate impact against Yeovil Town this afternoon.
When proceedings were set underway, the fixture would begin in a rather open fashion, with both teams mounting several fast-paced counterattacks in the early exchanges, hoping to catch the other off guard.
The hosts would be the ones to create the game’s first opportunity when centre-back Jake Wannell picked up possession, 25 yards from the target and opted to pile-drive an effort towards the bottom corner, although it failed to trouble Rory Mahady between the Scunthorpe sticks, who marshalled the ball behind for a goal kick.
In the minutes that followed, the Iron would look to create a promising chance of their own and would do just that when Howe’s perfectly timed run in behind the Yeovil defence was found courtesy of a perfectly placed pass. Carrying the ball into the penalty area, Howe would have just the onrushing Jed Ward to beat; however, he was unable to turn the ball home as he was knocked off balance by a recoiling defender, sending his shot straight into Ward’s grateful grasp.
The next action in proceedings would see the game’s opening goal as the Iron’s cunning press forced a mistake out of the Glovers’ defence. With Sellars-Fleming charging down a back pass initially, the Yeovil back-line would descend into complete panic as the ball was shifted back across to Ward, who would lose possession to Howe’s sliding challenge, allowing the Scunthorpe forward to retrieve the ball and slot it into the path of Sellars-Fleming for a tap-in, making it 1-0.
The Iron would maintain their lead going into the half-time break; however, despite their dominance in both possession and chances, Mahady would be called into action one final time prior to the whistle, as again a long-range effort was stung in his direction, and on this occasion, he would be forced to produce a stunning reflex stop to push James Plant’s shot over the crossbar.
Following the half-time break, in which the visitors made two changes, looking to turn the game’s momentum on its head as quickly as possible. Although United would come out for the second period hungry to extend their advantage.
For the opening 15 minutes of the second half, it would be somewhat of a stalemate with very little action to report as both sides were simply lacking the killer pass to unlock one another’s defences.
With half an hour remaining, a promising opportunity would arise for United when some intricate passing saw Howe receive possession on the edge of the Yeovil penalty area from Sellars-Fleming, with the Scunthorpe striker sending his effort towards the target, only for Ward to deny it with a strong palm. Although the attack wouldn’t end there as the ball would fall kindly back into the path of Zain Westbrooke from 20 yards, who sent a dipping effort towards goal that somehow evaded the top of the crossbar on its way behind for a goal-kick.
The next opportunity in the game would again come through United, as substitute Kian Scales made an almost instant impact on proceedings, playing a nice one-two with Whitehall before seizing up an effort from range. The strike was struck cleanly by the midfielder, only for it to drift narrowly wide of the mark, much to the relief of Ward, who was scrambling across his goal line to try and make the save.
With the encounter in its closing stages and United’s lead still slender, the Glovers would break forward in search of an equaliser, with former Iron forward Aaron Jarvis coming close to putting his name on the scoresheet. After receiving the ball with his back to goal, Jarvis would swivel on the ball and drive an effort towards the bottom corner from the edge of the area, although Mahady was equal to the shot with a safe pair of hands to keep hold of the ball.
From this moment on, United’s lead wasn’t challenged as they saw out another valuable three points at the Attis Arena, showing enormous character in the process to get the win in what had been a scrappy affair.
IRON: Mahady, Horton, Boyce, Howe (Dawson, 86), Beestin (Scales, 65), Whitehall (Ubaezuonu, 73), Rowley, Sellars-Fleming, Starbuck, Westbrooke, Denton.
IRON UNUSED SUBS: Johnson, Belehouan, Eze, Chadwick.
REFEREE: Richard Aspinall
ATTENDANCE: 4,469 (93 away)
