Scunthorpe United v Bristol City

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Football League Championship

Scunthorpe United :
Murphy, Williams, Byrne, Mirfin, Milne, Sparrow, McCann, Thompson, Woolford, Hayes, Hooper (Togwell 74).
Subs not used:
Lillis, Canavan, A.Wright, O'Connor, J.Wright, McDermott.

Bristol City :
Henderson, Orr, Fontaine, Carey, Ribeiro (Sproule 46), Nyatanga, Elliott, Hartley (Agyemang 82), Skuse, Maynard, Haynes (Clarkson 73).
Subs not used:
Gerken, Sawyer, Johnson, Sno.

SULSESC REPORT

by Bob Dook at Glanford Park

ANDY Skeels always puts on a good do for the SULSESC match sponsorship and this time was no exception. He has rightly received accolades from several club members and I can only second those. The only blemish I could find was Andy's choice of gravy for the turkey roast.

Acting Chairman Neil Wright was at his usual best, leading from the front, although handing over bottles of liquor to our minors for presentation to the strikers could have been misconstrued by the more puritan among us.

I had great pleasure in sitting with Dr M. Wright, that well-known haematologist and Wing-Commander P.Wilmot of the RAF. They entertained me with enlightening stories, including one of impromptu 4 am skirmishes with the SAS. And that was Dr Blood.

I read on email of a couple of members' recollections of seeing two ladies who were apparently able to demonstrate ample bosoms. For those of us focused on the match, I presume these ladies were Iron fans, as I have read nothing about a pair of bristols.

I was particularly worried about playing Bristol City, as they were in a fine run of form with an eye on the play-offs. We would have to be on the top of our game to stand a chance. As was to unfold, my pre-match fears were unfounded. The Iron demonstrated that with the right application and a quality striker, we were capable of securing a result.

I thought it was a bit much that the Bristol City manager concluded that it was more of his team's fault than the superiority of the opposition, as the reason why City were beaten so soundly. Obviously, he had let his unbeaten run go to his head.

The Glanford Park crowd was duly aware that a victory would go a long way to securing our place in the Championship next season. While this created a sense of forbidding, the boys' on-field performance eased the nerves.

Hooper was the hero, but the rest of the lads contributed to his success on the day. A first half strike was reminiscent of a Sunday game, with a missed tap-in that hit his knee, bobbled a bit before being dispatched from inside the six-yard box. One-nil up was deserved at the break.

After tea and biscuits, SULSESC membership returned from their deliberations to watch a second half, which the Iron dominated. Some fine football was served up and Hooper showed his worth by securing the result with a further brace of goals. The first and his second was a testament to his strength. He won the ball back in the box and then turned half circle before delivering a wonderful narrow angled and inch-perfect shot just inside the far post. This was truly a class finish and will no doubt have impressed the scouts in attendance.

Hooper and the Iron's third goal was from a breakaway and this time he did not fluff the one-on-one with the 'keeper. He made an effort to take the ball wider of the 'keeper than usual and then bury it with a smart finish.

A final score of 3-0 to the Iron was well justified, whatever excuse Bristol City can come up with. Their play-off ambitions were finished, while our relegation worries had been significantly eased.

We are nearly safe now and closer to emulating those halcyon days of the 1960s.

PLUS: FROM THE BRISTOL EVENING POST...

HOT-SHOT Gary Hooper single-handedly burst Bristol City's bubble at sun-drenched Glanford Park.

Scunthorpe's highly-rated striker scored a hat-trick in 50 minutes to take his tally to 17 for the season and end City's chances of gate crashing the Championship play-offs.

Reportedly a target for the Robins earlier in the season, Hooper proved too good for a City defence which failed to cope with his pace and movement.

He opened the scoring after 19 minutes, added a second 10 minutes into the second half and put the outcome beyond doubt on 69 minutes before leaving the pitch to a standing ovation.

Not only did his treble move the Iron to within sight of Championship safety, they also signalled City's first defeat in seven games under the caretaker management of Keith Millen.

City still had an outside chance of making the play-offs at the start of the day, but knew they had to win and rely on rivals Swansea, Blackpool and Middlesbrough all dropping points.

Scunthorpe needed the points for an altogether different reason. Having conceded 10 goals in their last three games, the Iron still required two victories from their final four games to be sure of avoiding relegation.

Although manager Nigel Adkins made two changes in the back four, the home side still appeared fragile and keeper Joe Murphy had to spread himself to keep out an early shot from the lively Danny Haynes.

At the other end, Robins keeper Stephen Henderson, preferred to the fit-again Dean Gerken, had to rush from his line to deny Martyn Woolford a clear sight of goal, while recalled defender Christian Ribeiro cut out Gary Hooper's angled shot at the expense of a corner as the Lincolnshire side came on strong.

Henderson was again called into action, saving Grant McCann's curling free kick at the second attempt and then dropping smartly to keep out Woolford's low shot as the Iron threatened to break the deadlock.

City also looked dangerous when going forward and Iron keeper Murphy had to be alert to tip a Haynes header around the post for a corner after Bradley Orr's cross caused consternation in the home defence.

But it was City who cracked first on 19 minutes, Ribeiro failing to cut out a deep cross from the right flank and Hooper ghosting in at the far post to net his 15th goal of the season from close range.

Haynes appeared the most likely source of a City goal and the former Ipswich man displayed admirable technique to control Louis Carey's lofted pass on his chest, only to shoot high and wide from 18 yards.

Scunthorpe continued to carve out the better chances and Hopper thought he had scored a second goal when shooting past Henderson, but the linesman raised his flag to indicate an offside infringement and the visitors breathed a collective sigh of relief.

City were still more fortunate to survive when they failed to clear their lines and Woolford rattled the cross bar with a rising shot which beat Henderson all ends up.

Maynard looked hard done by when referee Mick Russell waved away appeals for a penalty, City's leading scorer going down under duress from beefy centre-back Kenny Milne.

Unhappy with his team's lack of creativity, Millen made a change at half time, withdrawing Welsh international Ribeiro, sending on right winger Ivan Sproule and switching to the same 4-4-2 formation favoured by Scunthorpe.

Issued with instructions to take on Iron defenders, the Irishman twice tested left-back Marcus Williams in the opening few minutes of the second half, surging into the penalty area, but failing to deliver crosses on either occasion.

Scunthorpe doubled their lead on 55 minutes. McCann's cross was headed across goal by Milne and Hooper displayed notable strength to hold off Orr and score with a neat shot on the turn, which sneaked past the unsighted Henderson and just inside the far post.

And it would have been 3-0 a few minutes later, had Henderson not stood his ground to keep out a Paul Hayes shot after City's defence disintegrated once more.

The game was up for City when Hooper completed his hat-trick in the 69th minute, racing onto a long clearance, leaving Nyatanga for dead and rounding the stranded Henderson to slide home his 17th goal of the season.

City's margin of defeat would surely have been wider had it now been for the outstanding Henderson, who went full length to keep out another free kick from McCann near the end.