Following a disappointing draw against Morecambe in their previous fixture, United were back in midweek action this evening to face off against a high-flying Boreham Wood side, with both sides looking to continue their almost unbelievable seasons to date, being two of the division’s newly promoted teams.
With regards to Scunthorpe’s team selection for the evening, first team manager Andy Butler would make three changes to his side with Jean Belehouan, Will Evans and Ross Barrows coming into the starting XI for Kyle Hurst and Joe Starbuck, who dropped to the bench, and finally Andrew Boyce, who missed out with a slight knock. Elsewhere, Connor Smith is still unavailable due to a sickness bug on this occasion.
With the game underway at Meadow Park, the Iron would set the tempo of the game nice and early, just as they would’ve hoped to do, piling early pressure onto their hosts with a flurry of early corners that ultimately culminated in the game’s opening chance from an Oli Ewing delivery. Swinging the ball into the front post area, Ewing’s cross caught Chelsea loanee Ted Curd off guard as the ball flashed across him at the front stick, leading to Curd clattering into the post as he desperately palmed the ball off the goal line and away from goal.
With United still on top of proceedings, they would look to build on their momentum and did so with some textbook build-up play as Ross Barrows’ pinpoint switch of play was brought under Danny Whitehall’s spell 20 yards from goal, with the Scunthorpe striker teeing himself up expertly to lash a volley towards Curd that the keeper watched all the way, diving low to bring it into his grasp.
As the half progressed, the fixture would begin to even out with the hosts seemingly building into the game. With this in mind, the Wood would make the most of their purple patch with what would’ve been the game’s opening goal if not for the intervention of the referee. Looking to use Scunthorpe’s own tactics against them, the hosts would whip a near-post corner into a dangerous area, which evaded the crowd of bodies before finding a White shirt at the back post, who tapped the ball home. However, before the celebrations could start, the referee would disallow the goal for a prior foul on Whitehall.
The next action in proceedings would see the deadlock broken, with United’s persistence finally paying off as yet another corner was whipped to the near post before being flicked on by Joe Rowley, causing chaos in the Boreham Wood area as possession pinged around the six-yard box before striking Charlie O’Connell and dropping into the bottom corner, although it was Whitehall who wheeled away in celebration.
With half-time drawing nearer and United still in control, they would make the most of their dominance with a second goal of the evening in sensational fashion. After a long direct ball forward was won initially in the air by Whitehall, possession would drop between Ewing and Roberts on the edge of the area, allowing the latter to take the ball and drive it magnificently past Curd, who stood no chance of stopping the effort.
Deep into the first-half additional time, Scunthorpe would again strike when it mattered, punishing their opponents with a cunning counterattack. Breaking out from their own half, United would fire the ball forward from Roberts to Denton on the left flank, where he would take a touch before whipping an instinctive cross to the back post for Whitehall. Despite rising highest in the area, Whitehall would let the ball drop down to the overlapping run of Zain Westbrooke, who had run beyond him, giving him the space and time to smash the ball past Curd for an astonishing 3-0 scoreline.
After a first-half schooling from Scunthorpe, they were bound to face some second-period resistance from their hosts, with their manager Luke Garrard forced into a triple change at the break, visibly raging with his side’s performance.
Despite some early warning signs from the Wood after the restart, the closest that they would come would be in the 54th minute through experienced defender Chris Bush, when he collected possession on the halfway mark before driving forward and releasing a thunderous strike towards goal, although it was never going to unsettle Mahady, as the Scotsman watched it balloon over the target.
As time dragged on, the Iron were doing an immense job at protecting their lead, although as the game ebbed away, the Wood would mount a fight back, starting with an ambitious drive from the edge of the area from attacking midfielder Zak Brunt, as the former Barnet man saw his shot dip marginally over the crossbar from 20 yards, sparking hope for the hosts who would pull one back mere minutes later.
The hosts’ goal would come in scrappy fashion and was exactly what they needed to unnerve United, after a long throw from Bush was hurled into the area before being flicked on at the front post and eventually prodded home by substitute Luke Norris, with the striker latching onto the ball to cut the deficit to two.
Now with their lead under jeopardy, the Iron would come under yet more fire from the hosts as their star man Abdul Abdulmalik came to life for probably the first time in the game, cutting inside off his left-flank and driving a well struck shot towards the top corner that looked destined for the target as soon as it left his boot, the effort had Mahady scrambling but cannoned off the outside of the post, giving Scunthorpe a somewhat lucky escape.
With the fixture deep into additional time, there would be two chances in quick succession that would’ve certainly changed the tide of the game had they been converted. Firstly, it was Mahady to the rescue for United as he was called into action for a split-leg save to deny Abdulmalik from a promising area, before the follow-up would fall back into the path of Norris in the area, who, instead of heading the ball in, opted to hit the deck in search of a penalty after pressure from Will Evans which was waived away by the referee.
This would be the final action at Meadow Park, with the Iron seeing out a valuable three points on the road in the Enterprise National League and in the process propelling themselves back up to within three points of top spot in what had been a true statement performance.
IRON: Mahady, Horton, Belehouan, Evans, Whitehall (Ubaezuonu, 74), Roberts (Howe, 88), Rowley, Ewing (Beestin, 88), Westbrooke, Denton, Barrows (Starbuck, 69).
IRON SUBS: Jones, Dawson, Hurst.
ATTENDANCE: 1,081 (244 away)
REFEREE: Robert Massey-Ellis
