REPORT: Iron 1-1 Worthing

With a new era beginning at the Attis Arena following the appointment of former Chorley Manager Andy Preece in midweek, Scunthorpe were looking to use the footballing myth of the famous new Manager bounce to their advantage this afternoon as they welcomed a high-flying Worthing side to North Lincolnshire.

With regard to Preece’s first-team selection as United boss, there was a medley of changes from last weekend’s FA Cup defeat to Port Vale, as goalkeeper Maison Campbell came back in between the sticks with a defensive line in front of him that consisted of two changes, as Stan Ashbee and Regan Clayton were granted starts. Elsewhere, two more alterations to the Iron’s forward options as Kyle Hurst was brought back into the side, with James Gale selected to play on the left flank over Luke Brennan, who dropped to the bench.

When proceedings were set underway, it took the two sides the opening ten minutes of action to figure one another out as the visitors attempted to retain the game’s early possession with Scunthorpe intent on breaking up the play at every possible interval.

With just over 10 minutes played, it was the Rebels who had the game’s first clear-cut opportunity after a sustained period of pressure. Working the ball around the edge of the area, somehow possession kept falling back to Worthing, who managed to slide the ball through to Razzaq Coleman De-Graft in the area, who drove a low effort towards the bottom corner that narrowly missed the target.

After this initial warning shot, it wasn’t long before Worthing found themselves in the lead through a clean strike from Jordan Young, who found himself in space on the edge of the United penalty area before lashing the ball towards the bottom corner, crashing against both posts before the assistant referee deemed the ball to have crossed the line for 1-0.

With little chance to report for the majority of the first half, it only ever really looked like Worthing were going to double their advantage until the period’s latter stages, mainly due to some crucial stops from Campbell, who was called into action on several occasions to keep the deficit to one.

With 37 minutes played, United would have their best chance of the half from a well-worked corner routine, sweeping a low cross into the area that was controlled by Gale, who worked enough space for a low shot that deflected up off goalkeeper Harrison Foulkes and onto the underside of the crossbar, spinning back into the path of Norwood at the far post, whose goal-bound effort was somehow swept off the goal line by a covering defender.

This would take Scunthorpe into the break behind, requiring a much-improved second-half display if they were to get anything from the game against a well-drilled Worthing outfit.

Following the restart, United showed vast improvement in intensity from the off, attacking towards their own fans. Scunthorpe first came close to levelling the score in the 55th minute when a well-crafted attack down the right allowed Joe Starbuck to push the ball out of his feet and whip a lovely cross to the far post that was knocked back across goal, landing at the feet of Alfie Beestin in the area, who lashed the ball towards the target, forcing a reflex save out of Foulkes to deny.

The Iron’s next chance would see the ever-lively Gale come mere inches away from equalising. Receiving the ball with a sensational touch to advance into the area, all be it at a wide angle, Gale would stride onto the ball, firing an instinctive strike with his weaker foot that appeared to have Foulkes well beaten as the effort soared and narrowly passed the far post.

With time dragging on, United continued to apply the pressure; however, they did look vulnerable to the rapid counter-attacking abilities that the visitors possessed, especially with Coleman De Graft, who came close to adding a second to the Rebels’ tally after a powerful forward run that saw him unleash an effort that was crucially blocked by the covering Stan Ashbee.

As half-chance after half-chance led to nothing, it felt as though it was going to be one of those days for the Iron who just couldn’t find a way through the Worthing blockade. However, there was still time for one more chance in the dying embers when a hopeful ball forward was won by the towering Will Evans, knocking the ball back down into the path of clinical forward James Norwood, who slid in to turn the ball home, rescuing United and making it 5 goals in 9 games for the forward.

And with that, it was a well-earned point in the bank for Andy Preece’s Iron after a valiant and improved second period, marking the gaffer's first game in charge with a platform to build on in the coming weeks and putting an immediate end to a disappointing losing run for United.

IRON: Campbell, Evans, Beestin, Norwood, P. Jones, Ashbee, Batty, Hurst, Starbuck, Clayton, Gale

IRON SUBS: Rose, Belehouan, Howe, Brennan, Sellars-Fleming, Richards, Denton