A triumph for endeavour

Photo: Alan Howarth

MATT FINISH! Athletic striker Matt Smith celebrates his goal.

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SCUNTHORPE 1 ATHLETIC 2
Latics off the mark with display of grit and determination


A BOLD and determined effort from Athletic earned a first victory of the npower League One season, thanks to a series of new landmarks.

David Mellor struck home a premier first-team goal on his starting debut, which came about in no small part thanks to a cross from the right wing from another man who had previously to be named in the first XI, Josh Parker.

The 18-year-old’s sweet curling shot with his unfavoured right foot was the first time Athletic had scored from open play in 2011-12.

Hard-working Iron striker Chris Dagnall equalised just after the hour mark with a low shot which came after a surging run from halfway.

Athletic fans present must have feared the worst, given the poor second-half displays on show so far this season.

But instead of capitulating, the gutsy visitors toughed it out. And when Matt Smith rose high amid a scrum of players eight minutes from the end of normal time to power an excellent header back across goal and into the far corner of Josh Lillis’s net – also his first pro strike – the celebrations were understandably huge.

Bobby Grant nearly claimed a point for Scunthorpe with a free-kick that crashed against the crossbar late on, after Jean-Yves Mvoto had received his marching orders from referee David Coote. It was the third time in the game that United had hit the goal frame.

Simply as a result of the blood, sweat and tears that must have doused the playing surface by the time Athletic’s players greeted the final whistle with arms aloft – this was a game low on quality but high on tension - three points was a deserved reward.

This performance must have come as a major shock to those who saw a completely different Athletic turn out at Yeovil.

The team selection in itself caused a stir. Out went Smith, Filipe Morais and Matthew Lund and in their places arrived Mellor, Carl Winchester and Parker.

Chris Taylor played just off striker Reuben Reid in a central role and the pair harried and chased constantly.

Parker caused a host of problems with his lightning pace and early, quality delivery from the right wing, and Winchester was superb in breaking up play as well as delivering calmness in the engine room along with the outstanding James Wesolowski, who must have completed the proverbial task of covering every blade of grass.

Scunthorpe had two chances in the opening quarter-hour. First, Martin O’Connor drifted a low shot wide when he might have done better, then Garry Thompson hit a first-time effort from the edge of the penalty area against the angle of post and bar with Athletic ‘keeper Alex Cisak rooted to the spot.

The latter chance came two minutes before Mellor’s opener. Having shunned an initial chance to shoot with his right foot after the ball squeezed over to him from Parker’s half-cleared cross, the former Manchester United youngster wasn’t about to make the same mistake.

Cutting inside full-back Andrew Wright, Mellor fashioned a perfect shot which bent around Lillis’s dive to nestle in the far-right corner of the goal.

A heavy period of pressure from the home team ensued but Athletic stood firm, as yellow cards started to become more prevalent than completed passes.

Mvoto was forced into a good clearance off the line after Andy Barcham had defeated Kieran Lee and struck a cross-shot.

Eight minutes before the break, Reid might have put the visitors two up as Kieran Lee crossed following a 60-yard Parker burst which swapped defence for attack.

After the break, the sides exchanged scoring chances.

Zander Diamond bravely blocked Barcham’s shot with his body, Taylor forced Lillis into a low stop with a deflected effort and Dagnall had a low left-footed drive saved low by Cisak.

After harsh bookings for Mvoto and then Cisak, who was handed a yellow card for time-wasting, Scunthorpe equalised when former Rochdale forward Dagnall ran strongly at the heart of Athletic’s defence and struck a clinical angled shot across Cisak and into the far corner.

Dickov’s use of substitutions did much to restore calm. Morais got on the ball plenty of times and Smith gave the home defence a different sort of problem to deal with.

Still Scunthorpe pushed on. Full-back Eddie Nolan forced Cisak into another low block and Mark Duffy might have done better than slam his far-post shot against the inside of a post, the ball scooting back across goal before rolling to relative safety.

Smith had his say by rising to score from a whipped free-kick from Morais, from a central area just in front of the centre circle. More will surely follow for the tall striker.