In many ways The Iron have had much the same sort of season as the Shrimpers – except in reverse. After the 4-0 victory over Cambridge United on the 22nd of November, Scunthorpe lay ninth in the Third Division table, within two points of the play-off positions and only three wins from the automatic places, with just over half the campaign remaining. Those early months had seen a massive 5-0 defeat to Mansfield Town, but also hefty triumphs for Scunny themselves, with a 5-2 win against Cheltenham Town, 4-1 over Carlisle United and a 6-2 result against Huddersfield Town joining that U’s win.
The drop in points – United recorded just five points, all from draws, in eleven matches between November 22nd and February 20th, a period of three – coincided with a lack of strikes from hotshot Steve MacLean, on loan from Glasgow Rangers, who heads the Division Three charts for the current campaign with 23 in all competitions, and more importantly, 21 in the league. His contribution, like Leon Constantine’s for the Shrimpers, has been imperative this year.
Another key factor in the side’s position, just above the relegation zone by some six points, has been the number of penalties converted. The Iron have smashed home eight in all competitions, with captain Kevin Sharp, veteran Peter Beagrie and MacLean, who leads the way with four all taking turns to beat the goalkeeper from twelve yards.
Like Blues, Scunny have had their fair share of Cup success this time around as well, almost making up for failing to reach the play-offs, which has been almost an annual occurrence in recent years. The Carling Cup saw a narrow 3-2 defeat in the second round to Burnley, but the F.A. Cup witnessed the Glanford Park side reach the fourth round, with wins over higher division opposition against Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley. They bravely went down 2-1 at Portsmouth to end their interest in the competition.
That defeat came just over a week after they had crashed out of the northern section of the LDV Vans Trophy to Wednesday, the Owls exacting revenge in the sweetest possible way with a 4-0 triumph. However, all of that has not been enough for Brain Laws, the club’s ex-manager, who was sacked last week after six years in the Glanford Park hotseat. The Iron had lost four out of four, and are five without a win following caretaker boss Russ Wilcox’s opening game in charge, a 1-1 draw with Leyton Orient. Southend will be hoping to go one better than the draw away from Roots Hall earlier in the campaign.
Nationwide League Division Three |
09/08/03: Bristol Rovers (h) L1-2 (Beagrie [p]) 16/08/03: Bury (a) W3-2 (Torpey 2, Beagrie) 23/08/03: Oxford United (h) D1-1 (Beagrie) 26/08/03: Mansfield Town (a) L0-5 30/08/03: Torquay United (h) W2-1 (MacLean, Calvo-Garcia) 06/09/03: Boston United (a) D1-1 (Sharp [p]) 13/09/03: Swansea City (h) D2-2 (Calvo-Garcia, MacLean [p]) 16/09/03: Kidderminster Harriers (a) W2-0 (Byrne, MacLean) 20/09/03: Leyton Orient (a) D1-1 (Kell) 27/09/03: Southend United (h) D1-1 (MacLean) 30/09/03: Cheltenham Town (h) W5-2 (MacLean 3 [1p], Beagrie, Torpey) 04/10/03: Rochdale (a) L0-2 11/10/03: Lincoln City (h) L1-3 (Hayes) 17/10/03: Northampton Town (a) D1-1 (Kell) 21/10/03: Carlisle United (a) W4-1 (Torpey, MacLean, Sharp, Beagrie [p]) 25/10/03: York City (h) D0-0 01/11/03: Huddersfield Town (h) W6-2 (Beagrie, Sparrow, Barwick, MacLean 3) 15/11/03: Macclesfield Town (a) D2-2 (Beagrie, MacLean) 22/11/03: Cambridge United (h) W4-0 (Hayes, MacLean 3) 29/11/03: Darlington (a) D2-2 (Torpey, Beagrie [p]) 13/12/03: Hull City (h) D1-1 (Beagrie [p]) 20/12/03: Yeovil Town (a) L1-2 (Beagrie) 26/12/03: Doncaster Rovers (a) L0-1 28/12/03: Boston United (h) L0-1 10/01/04: Bristol Rovers (a) L0-1 17/01/04: Bury (h) D0-0 27/01/04: Mansfield Town (h) D0-0 07/02/04: Doncaster Rovers (h) D2-2 (Torpey, Butler) 11/02/04: Oxford United (a) L2-3 (Torpey 2) 14/02/04: Lincoln City (a) D1-1 (Taylor) 21/02/04: Northampton Town (h) W1-0 (Lee Ridley) 24/02/04: Torquay United (a) L0-1 06/03/04: Yeovil Town (h) W3-0 (MacLean 2, Holloway) 09/03/04: York City (a) W3-0 (Groves 2, McLean [p]) 13/03/04: Hull City (a) L1-2 (MacLean) 16/03/04: Kidderminster Harriers (h) L0-2 20/03/04: Swansea City (a) L2-4 (Taylor 2) 23/03/04: Carlisle United (h) L2-3 (MacLean 2 [1p]) 27/03/04: Leyton Orient (h) D1-1 (Sparrow)
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F.A. Cup |
08/11/04: R1 – Shrewsbury Town (h) W2-1 (Hayes 2) 06/12/04: R2 – Sheffield Wednesday (h) D2-2 (Torpey 2) 17/12/04: R2r – Sheffield Wednesday (a) D0-0 [p3-1] 03/01/04: R3 – Barnsley (a) D0-0 13/01/04: R3r – Barnsley (h) W2-0 (Torpey, McCombe) 24/01/04: R4 – Portsmouth (a) L1-2 (Parton)
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Carling Cup |
12/08/03: R1 – Oldham Athletic (h) W2-1 (Hayes 2) 23/08/03: R2 – Burnley (h) L2-3 (MacLean, Beagrie)
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LDV Vans Trophy |
14/10/03: R1 – Shrewsbury Town (h) W2-1 (Jackson, Kell) 04/11/03: R2 – Hull City (a) W3-1 (Torpey, Sparrow, MacLean) 09/12/03: AQF – Bury (a) W1-0 [sg] (Hayes) 20/01/03: ASF – Sheffield Wednesday (a) L0-4
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2003/4 Records |
Matches Played: 51 (26 home, 25 away) Matches Won: 16 (10 home, 6 away) Matches Drawn: 18 (10 home, 8 away) Matches Lost: 17 (6 home, 11 away) Goals Scored: 76 (45 home, 31 away) Goals Conceded: 72 (32 home, 40 away)
Kevin Sharp 44+3 Steve Torpey 45+1 Clifford Byrne 45 Steve MacLean 39+6 Matthew Sparrow 42+1
Steve MacLean 23 Steve Torpey 12 Peter Beagrie 11 Paul Hayes 7 Cleveland Taylor, Richard Kell 3 |
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com