Report: Iron 3-2 Forest Green Rovers

Following a monumental midweek victory over Boreham Wood last time out in the Enterprise National League, the Iron were back in action this afternoon for a late kick-off encounter against another one of the division’s front-runners, Forest Green Rovers.

With Scunthorpe high on confidence coming into the tie, they would’ve been looking to exploit their opponents’ recent run of poor form that saw them win just one of their previous five fixtures.

With regards to United’s team selection for the afternoon, Scunthorpe made just a single change to their side as central defender Jean Belehouan made way for Doncaster Rovers loanee Kyle Hurst, who returned to the starting XI, for just his second appearance in claret and blue. Elsewhere, Scunthorpe's latest signing, Connor Smith, was finally eligible to feature from the bench after recovering from an illness and receiving international clearance.

With proceedings underway at the Attis Arena, the visiting Rovers would make the perfect start to life with the game’s opening goal inside the first five minutes. It would be talisman forward Ricardo Rees who broke the deadlock, racing beyond the Scunthorpe back line after being played onside, allowing him the space and time to read the bouncing ball and provide the finishing chip to lift the ball beyond goalkeeper Rory Mahady and into the net for 1-0.

A goal down already with the fixture barely underway, the Iron would try to mount an instant comeback, although it would be Forest Green who very nearly struck again. Breaking down the left flank with a cunning counterattack, the ball would work its way to Timi Babalola on the edge of the area. The towering forward would slide possession across to his strike partner, Rees, who lashed the ball at the target, beating Mahady with the effort but not the goal post as it hit the outside of the target before being cleared away.

After narrowly escaping conceding a second, Scunthorpe would begin to slowly grow into the fixture, building a consistent forward push that led to their eventual equaliser in the 38th minute, coming from the penalty spot after Danny Whitehall was wrestled to the deck after getting himself beneath a cross into the area. Stepping up to take the spot kick, Whitehall would confidently dispatch the ball into the bottom left corner, leaving Harry Isted no chance of stopping it.

With half-time on the horizon, United were now applying the pressure on their opponents and were attacking with a visible newfound confidence. Mere minutes from the break, Scunthorpe would have one final chance to take the lead when a deep cross into the Forest Green area was swept into the path of Rowley on the edge, allowing the midfield maestro to take a touch out of his feet and sting the ball towards the goal, although it would nestle just over the crossbar.

Following the restart, the Iron looked to pick up from where they left off in the first period, and Butler’s boys would get their just desserts on 50 minutes. After narrowly escaping at one end, United would break from one side of the pitch to the other with Zain Westbrooke leading the charge. Building into the Rovers’ final third, the ball would be laid back to Westbrooke on the edge of the box, allowing the midfielder to strike the ball low and hard into the bottom corner, breaking the crowd of bodies to give his team the lead.

Looking to build on their advantage, United would continue their purple patch in the second period and very nearly found the all-important next goal that would’ve strengthened their lead. Weaving his way into a promising position, Hurst would react first to a mistake from the Forest Green defence, poking the ball towards the target with a subtle deflection, seemingly taking the ball over the line, but an important clearance to hook the ball off the line from a Green shirt would keep the score to 2-1.

The next action in the encounter would be a major turning point in the proceedings as the visitors drew themselves level through Sheffield United loanee Jili Buyabu. Gliding down the left flank at a serious pace, Buyabu would chop the ball onto his left foot before rifling the ball towards the target, sending the ball rocketing into the roof of the net for the equaliser from seemingly nowhere.

Over the next 15 minutes, Forest Green would regain control of the fixture, attacking with intent as they searched for the goal to put them back in the lead. However, it would be a Scunthorpe tactical alteration that led to the game’s decisive moment as within just minutes of Carlton Ubaezuonu’s introduction to the fray, the forward would find himself with his back to goal in the penalty area, bringing the ball under his spell before skilfully beating both Harvery Bunker and the goalkeeper with a low volley that found the bottom corner.

Back in the lead and looking to kill off the game, United’s substitutes were yet again at the centre of all they were doing, and after a swift link-up to release Roberts into the centre, his stunning strike would ricochet off the back of debutant Connor Smith, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way as the ball dropped narrowly wide of the target.

With this latest chance going a miss in the game’s closing stages, Forest Green would pile forward in search of an equaliser, although it wasn’t to be for Robbie Savage’s Rovers, who inevitably failed to create any chances of note leading to the Iron taking all three points following the sounding of the referee’s full-time whistle; a vital three points for Scunthorpe as they move up to fourth in the league standings, still within touching reach of the league’s top spot.

IRON: Mahady, Horton, Evans, Whitehall (Ubaezuonu,74), Roberts, Rowley, Ewing (Beestin, 74), Hurst (Smith, 65), Westbrooke, Denton, Barrows (Belehouan, 65).

IRON SUBS: Jones, Howe, Starbuck.

ATTENDANCE: 5,215 (98 away)

REFEREE: Ross Joyce