SCUNTHORPE UNITED LONDON AND SOUTH EAST SUPPORTERS CLUB

Scunthorpe United v Bournemouth

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Football League One

Scunthorpe United3 (3)Bournemouth2 (0)

Crosby 8, Keogh 29, Sharp 44

Vokes 46, 74

Scunthorpe United :
Murphy, Byrne, Crosby, Foster, Williams (Ridley 69), Taylor, Baraclough, Goodwin, Morris (Hinds 80), Sharp, Keogh
Subs not used:
Lillis, MacKenzie, Foy

Bournemouth :
Moss, Purches, Young, Gowling (Pitman 46), Hart, Cooper, Browning, Anderton, Hollands (Howe 46), Fletcher (Vokes 46), Hayter
Subs not used:
Stewart, Cooke

SULSESC REPORT

by Dave Pratt at Glanford Park

A MATCH made for Jimmy Greaves, as this truly was a game of two halves.

Seeking to continue the recent decent run, the Iron put in an excellent first-half performance, and after Crosby had put them ahead on eight minutes, being given a second bite of the Cherry (sorry!), firing home from close range after Moss had parried his initial header, they didn’t look back, at least until the second-half.

Just before the 30-minute mark, Andy Keogh doubled the advantage, beating Moss with a flick following an accurate through ball from Morris.

When Sharp added a third just before half-time, one could be forgiven for thinking that Bournemouth might be in for a drubbing, especially as we had not been playing especially well.

The scoreline did, however, mask the fact that it could easily have been three apiece. Having discussed the potential danger of Hayter, and his good scoring record at GP with the erudite Bob Dook prior to the game, low and behold he had three golden opportunities, all of which he squandered. The first one, immediately after Crosby’s opener, was a shocking miss, having cut a swathe through a non-existent defence with only Murphy to beat, he scuffed it wide.

Kevin Bond, the Bournemouth boss, took decisive action at half-time, replacing defender Gowling, who appeared to have a groin injury and was being roasted by Cleveland every time the ball was played down the right hand flank, together with the ineffective captain Fletcher and Hollands, who were substituted by a young strike pairing of Vokes and Pitman.

The eagle-eyed, aforementioned Mr. Dook also commented upon the fact that there had been a change of referee.

It wasn’t long before Vokes had made his mark. Two minutes into the second-half, Foster passed back, seemingly innocuously, but Murphy attempted to play the ball around Pitman and was caught in possession, Pitman merely poked the ball across the goal for Vokes who scored with the simplest of tap-ins.

This mistake changed the complexion of the game, and resulted in Scunthorpe putting themselves under pressure. Despite an off-the-line clearance following a Sharp header, the home team struggled, and the Cherries reduced the arrears even further in the 75th minute, when the substitute pairing teamed up again, Vokes volleying home from six yards.

At least this seemed to stir the Iron players, and they finished the last 15 minutes the stronger. Following an excellent cross from Byrne, Sharp squandered what was probably his easiest chance for many games, his header well off-target.

Keogh also went close, shooting just wide, but it was not to be, all goals being scored at the away end today. Three points, some tense moments, but we continue to win whilst not playing at our best.

So the last game of the calendar year, and with results going our way, what better way to finish than “we are top of the league, say we are top of the league”.