REPORT: Eastleigh 3-2 Iron

Following a disappointing first defeat of the season against Southend United last time out in the Enterprise National League, the Iron were back in action this afternoon against Eastleigh with hopes of getting their first three points of the season on the board as well as looking to register a first victory against the Spitfires out of a previous five failed attempts.

With regards to the Iron’s team news for the encounter, Scunthorpe would replicate their shape from their National League Cup midweek victory over Stoke City U21’s. However, there were just two changes from the defeat against Southend as Joe Starbuck came into the side at right wing-back to replace Reagan Ogle and the composed head of Jacob Butterfield was inserted into the heart of the midfield in place of Jordan Richards, who dropped to the alternates.

When proceedings were set underway by the hosts at the Silverlake Stadium, Scunthorpe would find themselves under some early pressure from the Spitfires’ attack, with their distinct style of direct play causing some early problems that were defended adequately.

Barring a number of deep corners for both sides, there was very little action to report for the first half an hour of action as the game lacked any sort of quality in the final third.

As the game surpassed the half-hour mark, Scunthorpe would begin to take the reins on the encounter with a solid spell of forward-thinking possession. However, they would be unable to make use of this control as, out of nowhere, the hosts would take the lead.

After a simple second ball knock down was collected by the hosts in the final third, a swift pass from captain Jordan Cousins would present his midfield partner Harry Sidwell with space and time on the edge of the United area to let fly, driving the ball beyond Louis Jones from the edge of the area and into the bottom corner for the opening goal.

With little time of the first period remaining for Scunthorpe to draw level, they would go on to threaten but fail to test Eastleigh goalkeeper Nick Townsend, especially when Pat Jones blazed high over the crossbar from a promising position on the edge of the area, bringing a disappointing opening half to an end.

Following the restart, the Iron were requiring a vast improvement if they were to get anything from the encounter and they would do just as the travelling supporters desired, levelling the scores within a matter of minutes.

After some determined running and skill from Jones to wriggle free of his marker on the edge of the Eastleigh area, his shot would be blocked back into the path of the well-positioned Beestin, granting him the time to pick his spot, rifling the ball beyond Townsend with a tremendous finish into the roof of the net.

Now with a foothold back in the encounter, the Iron wouldn’t be able to build upon it, falling under relentless fire from the Spitfires who forced Louis Jones into two crucial reaction saves in quick succession. The first of which saw the goalkeeper produce a superb one-on-one stop to deny Josh Lundstram, and from the following corner Jones would claw away a goal-bound header from Temi Eweka to keep the scores level.

Despite these saves, it wouldn’t be long before Eastleigh regained the lead as a long ball over the top of the Iron defence sent Aaron Blair storming towards the target, driving onto the edge of the area before lashing an astonishing finish into the top corner to restore the hosts' lead.

Behind once again, it was back to the drawing board for United who began their search for yet another equaliser. Jones was continuing to cause issues down the left flank for the Eastleigh defence and very nearly conjured the chance that would’ve made it 2-2 as he cut the ball across the face of goal and into the path of Joe Starbuck, charging onto the bouncing ball but unable to keep his effort down as it cleared the crossbar off his weaker left foot.

Scunthorpe’s second-half changes were making a positive impact on proceedings, and as a result the equaliser would come through one of them as James Gale made it three goals in two games across all competitions. After a lovely defence-splitting pass to release Danny Whitehall on the edge of the Spitfires area, the forward would slot the ball into the path of Gale inside the area, who drove the ball beyond the onrushing Townsend, making an immediate impact.

After all the hard work that United had put in to tie up the scores, they were unable to push towards a victory as within a matter of minutes the hosts took the lead once more through Lundstram. After a ball down the left cut out the Scunthorpe defence yet again, Max Dickov was able to cross the ball into a dangerous area with Lundstram waiting to mop up the loose ball with a composed finish from a matter of yards.

With just under ten minutes of action remaining, the Iron were back to square one, searching for a leveller and flooding forward. After what felt like relentless waves of attack, the ball would finally be swept away by the Eastleigh defence, but only as far as Beestin who, with one touch out of his feet, rattled the ball against the bar with a thunderous strike that was followed by another long-ranged effort from Butterfield that grazed the roof of the net on its way behind for a goal kick.

In the game’s last action, things would almost go from bad to worse as Scunthorpe’s commitment to going forward almost resulted in a fourth for the hosts as the electric pace of Dion Rankine saw him receive a ball down the right-flank, carrying the ball to the by-line before laying a beautifully weighted pass to Ollie Hawkins who somehow managed to miss the target from the six yard line.

Despite the seven minutes of additional time awarded, there would only be half chances for the Iron, who were unable to break down their opponents for a third time, resulting in the referee sounding for a second successive league defeat for Scunthorpe, with the search for a first win of the season still ongoing.

IRON: L. Jones, Horton, Evans, C. Howe (Ogle, 18), D. Howe (Whitehall, 61), Beestin, Brennan (Gale, 61), Rowley (Parker, 61), P. Jones, Starbuck (Hurst, 77), Butterfield

IRON SUBS: Campbell, Richards