Scunthorpe United v Watford

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Football League Championship

Scunthorpe United :
Murphy, Byrne (Cork 85), Crosby, Butler, Youga, Taylor (Hayes 68), Goodwin, Sparrow, Hurst, Forte (May 79), Paterson
Subs not used:
Lillis, Iriekpen

Watford :
Lee, Doyley, Shittu, DeMerit, Stewart, Smith, Mahon, Williamson (sent off 75), Johnson (McAnuff 70), King (Priskin 82), Darius Henderson (O'Toole 76)
Subs not used:
Ellington, Mariappa

SULSESC REPORT

by Neil Holland at Glanford Park

If I was being sensible, I shouldn't really have made it to this game.

What turned out to be a pretty bad weekend started with a trip up to Scunny on Friday night (it seems to take so long to get a baby ready that it's always a rush on a Saturday morning). Just past Blyton however, one of our rear tyres blew, and I found myself trying to fathom out how locking wheel nuts work and change the tyre by torchlight in the middle of a pitch black Laughton forest at 10pm on a Friday night. Not a good start.

So Saturday morning we found ourselves at Kwikfit in Scunny, being relieved of £145. To make matters worse, whilst getting the pram out of the boot, I straightened up to find myself in agony from lower back pain.

It eased off enough for me to partake of lunch and a pint at the Lawyer, but whilst making a quick getaway to drop Ben off at his grandparents who would be babysitting (in hindsight not a great desision for the Iron - the little fella hasn't seen us lose in four attempts this season), the back went again leaving me unable to stand straight or walk very well.

So, after calling in at my parents I swapped my standing season ticket for a seat in the Grove Wharf stand (which took me about twenty minutes to stagger to after parking in the "overflow car park"), and gratefully took my seat.

The Iron were under pressure from the start, and fell behind ten minutes in, when a right wing cross was headed firmly goalwards by an unmarked Adam Johnson, the ball clipping the underside of the crossbar before hitting the back of the net, leaving Joe Murphy with no chance.

United were under pressure, but showed some promise coming forward, and equalised when Forte clipped home Cleveland Taylor's cross. That signalled a better spell for the home team, and the sides went in for the halftime break deservedly level.

Scunthorpe continued to hold their own in the second half, until falling behind on the hour mark when a cross from the right wasn't held by Murphy, and Henderson (who hadn't really endeared himself to the home fans - after picking up a yellow card for use of the elbow in the first half, he continued to niggle and moan) was on hand to fire home.

A couple of minutes later and the game looked like it was over as a contest as United lost the ball in midfield and King outmuscled Butler to fire home a shot which Murphy got to and may be disappointed that he didn't keep out.

That wasn't the end of the excitement though as Watford's Williamson was deservedly sent off on 75 minutes for a two footed lunge on Forte. This signalled a spell of pressure from the Iron, and they should have set up a grandstand finish when Paterson was sent through, but his shot found the inside of the post with the keeper beaten.

In truth the result was probably right, but United held their own for long periods against a side only just down from the Premiership, and sitting top of the Championship.

My only worries are that we give away possession of the ball far too easily, and are being punished for this. Also, we show a lack of invention up front sometimes. The plan against Watford appeared to be to put the ball over the top for Paterson and Forte to run onto, but Paterson strays offside too easily and man-mountain Shittu in the Watford defence easily coped with most high balls. It wasn't until May came on that we really challenged them in the air.

As for me, a few days later and I can just about stand and walk now. The international break isn't just for the players to recover...