Following their first defeat of the season at the hands of Carlisle United last weekend, the Iron were handed the perfect opportunity to make an instant bounce back against lower table languishers Morecambe FC. Winless in four and with mounting pressure on manager Ashvir Singh Johal, the Shrimps were bound to put up a good test for United.
There were four changes for the Iron ahead of this evening's encounter with Morecambe FC. Following a suspension to Scunthorpe captain Andrew Boyce, first team Manager Andy Butler opted to replace him with fellow central defender Jean Belehouan. Elsewhere, midfielder Joe Rowley returns from his one-game sentence for yellow cards to replace Zain Westbrooke in midfield. Finally, there was an offensive double with regards to alterations as forwards Declan Howe and Danny Whitehall returned to the starting XI to replace Ty Sellars-Fleming and Joey Dawson.
When proceedings were set underway at the Attis Arena the Iron would make a positive start to proceedings, maintaining the ball in the Shrimps’ final third and looking hungry to get off the mark quickly.
Despite a strong opening ten minutes from Scunthorpe, it would be the visiting Shrimps who created the game’s first major chance with a swift attacking move. After some neat play to release winger Gwion Edwards down the left-hand side, the Scotsman would do brilliantly to flick the ball beyond Joe Starbuck and into a crossing position. Looking to square the ball to a teammate, Edwards would pick out the run of Rolando Aarons at the back post, who somehow failed to turn the ball around the post from a matter of yards.
As the first half progressed, the visitors were showing signs of promise in attack but were looking vulnerable in defence. It was this vulnerability that allowed Scunthorpe to take control of the game again when Morecambe’s failure to clear their lines saw the ball fall to Danny Whitehall on the edge of the area.
From a promising position, Whitehall would wrap his foot around the ball to send it arching toward the top corner. With goalkeeper Archie Mair fixed to the spot, the attempt only failed to open the scoring due to the intervention of the far post, as it cannoned back off the woodwork and back into play, before being hooked away by a Morecambe defender.
Before the game’s opening goal, the visitors would go close again, this time forcing Rory Watson into an incredible reflex stop to keep the score level. It was former Ben Tollitt who breached the Scunthorpe defence as he burst onto a long ball over the top and opted to try an ambitious lob from 20 yards. The effort was well placed from Tollitt as he tried to catch Watson off guard; however, the United goalkeeper was equal to the effort, clawing the ball away from the target.
Despite this chance, the Shrimps would go behind in the game with 40 minutes on the clock as a clinical attack from the Iron caused holes to appear amongst their opponents’ back line. After Joe Starbuck’s deft touch to help the ball into the path of Cal Roberts down the right flank, Roberts would go on to carry the ball into the penalty area with seemingly no defenders around him, before slamming the ball beyond Mair and into the top corner for 1-0.
Within minutes of the opening goal, United were at it again with a quick-fire second through Whitehall. On this occasion, there was no stopping Scunthorpe’s top scorer as he stood over a free-kick 25 yards from the target and looked to whip the ball around the wall and beyond Mair, something he would do word for word, making it look easy in the process.
The Iron would now find themselves two goals in front and would take this advantage into the break. When the sides returned for the second half, United would maintain their attacking threat from the first, looking to build on their lead straight from the restart.
Despite United looking lively in the early exchanges of the second period, they would struggle to break down the Shrimps, who were piling bodies behind the ball and with some defensive-minded substitutions, it appeared that Singh Johal’s side were settling for a damage control approach.
With just over 20 minutes to play, the Shrimps would be rewarded for their defensive perseverance by getting a goal back on the counter. With former Iron midfielder Yann Songo’o starting the move from deep, Morecambe would shift the ball forward to the wing, where Jake Cain would whip a delightful ball across the face of the goal and into the path of Tollitt, who lashed the ball home to reduce the deficit to one.
Now, being just the one goal to the good, it wouldn’t be long before United distinguished hopes of a Morecambe comeback with a sublime third goal courtesy of an inspired substitute from Butler, in the form of Sellars-Fleming. Waltzing inside from the left-hand side, the Hull City loanee would beat his marker with relative ease before a quick shift of feet allowed him to fire a low, driven effort at Mair from the edge of the area, catching the former Norwich City keeper off guard. The ball would nestle in the bottom corner to restore United’s advantage.
From this moment onwards, the result never seemed in doubt for the Iron. However, there could’ve been a case for more goals in the tie with both sides coming close. With United’s firepower from the bench already showing, Zain Westbrooke would very nearly add to his side’s advantage from a Free-kick to his own, when his scintillating free-kick dropped marginally wide of the target from a very acute angle.
With time almost up, both sides would have quickfire chances to alter the 3-1 score line. The visitors really should’ve pulled back what would’ve been a consolation when, again, a low whipped cross made its way to the back post for a Morecambe man to connect with, but Harry Panayoutou could only drag his sliding effort around the post and out for a goal kick.
This would bring a by no means classic but hard-fought victory for the Iron, who were clinical on the night to see off their bound-to-improve opponents, who at times caused some real problems for Butler’s men.
IRON: Watson, Belehouan, Evans, Howe (Sellars-Fleming, 71), Beestin (Scales, 63), Whitehall (Dawson, 79), Roberts, Rowley, Ewing (Westbrooke, 63), Starbuck, Denton (Horton, 71).
IRON UNUSED SUBS: Ubaezuonu, Chadwick.
ATTENDANCE: 4,126 (86 away)
REFEREE: James Oldham
