By Match report: Scunthorpe fall to narrow home defeat against Eastleigh
Scunthorpe United fell to a narrow defeat against 10-man Eastleigh on Saturday afternoon at Glanford Park.
A Danny Whitehall penalty in the first half was enough to earn a 1-0 victory for the visitors, who played out the final 40 minutes with a man less.
Jimmy Dean once again made changes from the side that drew at Maidstone United in midweek, with Richie Bennett and Billy Fewster getting a start.
The Iron began the game brightly and had the first opportunity of the match through Jacob Butterfield, but his goalbound effort was deflected off-target.
Eastleigh then had a couple of chances in relatively quick succession through Kairo Mitchell and Charlie Carter, as the promotion hopefuls started to gain a foothold in the game.
They were awarded a penalty 20 minutes into the contest when Bennett was adjudged to have handled in the area, before Whitehall sent Aaron Chapman the wrong way to put his side ahead.
The visitors almost grabbed a second seven minutes before the break when Alfie Lloyd drove at the United defence and forced Chapman into making a good save with his feet.
The Iron started the second half with a bit more purpose, with Bennett trying his luck with an effort that Joe McDonald prevented from hitting the net with a decent stop.
Eastleigh then had Mitchell sent off in the 50th minute when he was adjudged to have caught Harvey Bunker with an elbow, providing United with a real chance to get back into the game.
Substitute Tom Pugh was handed a golden opportunity to get his side on level terms when he found himself free at the back post and sent a volley wide of the goal from a position he really should’ve done better in.
The Iron started to largely dominate the ball due to the man advantage, but the visitors defended their box well.
The closest they came to finding an equaliser in the remaining minutes was through Ben Richards-Everton, who did well to get on the end of a corner into the box, but his powerful header was cleared off the line.
The defeat means United remain 23rd in the National League table and they are six points from safety.
