Despite two debutants and a last-minute change to the starting eleven, Grantham could have won the game and only a brilliant free kick late in the match took the game away from them. Gingerbreads manager Carlton Palmer.

“I thought we played really well.” Said Palmer. “We are trying to rotate players across this week, so we were stretched by the injury, but we had the better chances tonight. If we apply ourselves week in week out like we did tonight, we won’t go far wrong when the season really starts. I’ve got a couple of new boys still to come in and I’m confident we will be ready for Radcliffe.”

As early as the second minute, Brad Grayson was causing the Scunthorpe defence headaches. He was hauled down on the edge of the penalty area, Finlay Shrimpton earning himself an early yellow card. Grayson took the free kick himself but hit the wall. When the ball dropped to AJ Adelekan, the Scunthorpe defence recovered enough to block the effort.

With ten members of their first team squad in their starting eleven, it was no surprise that Scunthorpe began to dominate possession as the half wore on. They found the Grantham defence difficult to unlock. Cameron Wilson delivered a cross that was too deep, Harry Jessop fired over the crossbar after cleverly making space for the shot, Myles Hyppolite set up Jordan Jessop for a shot Grantham blocked well and Jai Rowe put a header into the side netting in short order as the visitors looked to take control of the game.

The Gingerbreads were undeterred and bounced back after 20 minutes when Scrivens played the ball wide to Ali Aldemir. He found debutant Michael Williams, but his cross was too deep for his intended targets.

Hyppolite curled a shot just over the Gingerbreads crossbar shortly before he half hour mark, but the Gingerbreads mostly frustrated their League 2 opponents with stout defending, denying them clear chances. Williams again got space on the Grantham right after 34 minutes to deliver a cross that Scunthorpe goalkeeper Rory Watson could only paw away. Grayson’s effort looked goal bound, but was stopped inside the six-yard box with only a desperate clearance denying Adelekan an easy tap-in. Grayson went close again five minutes before the break with a shot that Rory Watson saved at the expense of a corner.

Scunthorpe started the second half quickly. A ball over the top for Harry Jessop to run on to almost undid the Gingerbreads. The Scunthorpe forward was strong on the ball but lifted his final effort over the bar.

Masai Arbouin almost created the opener nine minutes after the break. He twisted and turned with the ball outside the Scunthorpe penalty area to evade challenges and set up Ademir. He went past two challenges, but his shot was blocked by the third. Williams delivered another good pass three minutes later for Scrivens. His cross was met by Grayson with a firm header, but Rory Watson made a good save low to his left.

Jordan Jessop then opened up the Grantham defence with a clever pass as play swung from end to end. Wilson took the ball in his stride, but Jim Pollard was quickly off his line to snuff out the danger. Pollard kept scores level again after 65 minutes. The ball dropped to Jordan Jessop inside the Grantham penalty area. Pollard pulled off a good save but needed Adelekan to completely clear the ball.

As the half wore on, Grantham began to sit a bit deeper and more compact. Scunthorpe had a lot of the ball in front of the Grantham team but struggled to create chances. When Alexander Perry tried to turn inside the Grantham penalty area, Nico DeGirolamo timed his challenge to perfection to win the ball and clear his lines.

The decisive goal came ten minutes from time. A long ball over the top was controlled by Harrison Poulter. He had got just beyond DeGirolamo and a touch from the Gingerbreads captain brought the Scunthorpe player down. Jordan Jessop took the free kick and gave Pollard no chance driving the dead ball into the top corner of the net.

Poulter caused Grantham some late problems running at the Gingerbreads defence, but Grantham kept Scunthorpe out. Poulter got away from Adam Watson late on but overran the ball. Pollard made a smart save to deny Phillip-Kennan Dunwald Turin in the last minute, parrying his shot when Scunthorpe broke quickly, then gathering the loose ball.

The Gingerbreads were awarded an indirect free kick inside the Scunthorpe penalty area as the game went into injury time. The ball was rolled for Williams, but although his shot found a way through the onrushing visitors, it crept wide of the mark.

Report by Graham Cowell
Photo courtesy of Ed Mayes Photography