By Match report: Late goals condemn Scunthorpe to defeat at Solihull
Scunthorpe United suffered a disappointing defeat at the hands of Solihull in the National League on Tuesday night.
Two late goals from the hosts condemned the Iron to a 3-1 loss, with Will Smith converting one of the visitors’ numerous chances on the night.
Jimmy Dean made four changes to the side that beat Altrincham last Tuesday, as Andrew Boyce, Tom Pugh, Finley Shrimpton and Sean Shields all came into the starting lineup.
United started the game brightly and had a chance to go ahead within a minute when Jake Leake floated a ball into the head of Richie Bennett, but the forward couldn’t quite guide his header on target.
They continued to come forward and put Solihull under pressure and Cam Wilson was inches away from giving his side the lead, with his low strike across goal coming back off the post after keeper Ryan Boot got a touch on it.
With pretty much the hosts’ first break forwards, they almost went ahead through Mark Beck, who got up well to meet a floated ball into the box and forced Aaron Chapman into making a fine save down to his left.
The Iron keeper quickly turned from hero to villain when he was too passive playing the ball out from the back, as his kick rebounded off Josh Kelly and bounced into the net with 16 minutes played.
The visitors almost responded within minutes, but after Wilson did well down the right, Bennett should’ve done much better with his shot from the edge of the area that went straight at Boot.
They did find a deserved equaliser on 35 minutes when Jacob Butterfield whipped in a deep free-kick from the right and Smith rose highest to head the ball into the back of the net, giving the keeper no chance of saving it.
That gave the United players a lift and they almost went in ahead at half-time, as Smith chested the ball down to Bennett from a corner and the striker’s left-footed shot was well saved by Boot at his near post.
It was the Moors that emerged from the break the better side, with Chapman being forced into making an early save down to his left to deny Justin Donawa and keep the score level.
The Iron had an excellent chance through Bennett on 54 minutes, but the forward’s effort was blocked behind for a corner to prevent what would’ve likely been a goal for the visitors.
From the resulting corner, Boyce got up well amongst a sea of bodies to head towards the far post, with Boot getting across his goal well to pluck the ball out of the air.
The home side then started to turn the screw and look more threatening going forwards, as Beck and Donawa both had decent opportunities that neither of them were able to hit the target with.
They had another chance through Callum Maycock on 71 minutes when Chapman got down well to his left again to deny the hosts from taking the lead.
The chance of the game for United arrived a few minutes later, as substitute Danny Elliott picked his head up and played a ball into the path of Tom Pugh, who went through one-on-one with the keeper and showed very little composure as he blasted the ball wide of the target.
The Iron were punished for not taking their chances when Joe Sbarra slotted the ball home from inside the box to give the hosts the lead with four minutes left to play.
The visitors had an excellent chance to salvage a point in injury time, but Bennett somehow got too much on the ball and lifted his shot over the bar from about six yards out.
The Moors then added a third right at the end, with Kelly dinking the ball over Chapman and into the net to seal the victory and a disappointing loss for United on the road.
