[Jon B]

That was a glimpse of what Scunthorpe can be, and just aren’t too often. Harrogate were garbage- favouring kick and rush at 100mph on a very ‘non-league’ park- and we coped admirably.

Felt the game took a while to settle down and on a park that size it was a little bit like pinball. We held the ball really well and were lucky to see Eisa on one of his ‘on-song’ nights. Harrogate struggled to contain Eisa and I thought he took his goal from open play very well after a cracking through pass from McAtee- the moment of the game for me.

Once again was very impressed by McGahey and Onarise who really have built up a good understanding. I thought young O’Malley had a very good game too and didn’t look at all phased.

No failures on the park this evening and the players as other have said looked comfortable with the system. Credit again to the side for their workrate and quick thinking at difficult times.

Yes we got a little bit of a rub of the green at times but I think after the last couple of season we deserve a little bit of that. We won’t be up against guff like Harrogate every week but the players should use the result as a springboard to push firmly away from trouble in the next few weeks. I hope the management resist the urge to tinker with this formation and work with it as the baseline foe the rest of the campaign.

Finally, good grief, but where did that commentator come from. Count Arthur Strong on nasty hallucinogenic steroids. There’s a global conspiracy against little Harrogate you know, at least three of the goals were dodgy. Sides can be second best in this league and still win you know. At non league level half of Town’s chances would have gone in. The ball keeps falling kindly for Scunthorpe and the people running the game are rubbish.

I bet if we all tune into the stream at 2 a.m. he’ll still be online, sitting in a darkened stadium, continuing his deranged monologue. Aural haemorrhoids.

[Jon B]

A frustrating night and the game was a hard watch.

Last night we were shown what the difference is between a top 4/5 side and a bottom 4/5 side.

Our problems stem from the sacking of Graham Alexander, and since then the club has dropped like a burning moth from a hot lightbulb. This mistake was then compounded by sacking both McCall and Hurst much too early. There’s a common denominator here, of course.

At present I fear the club is locked in a battle to survive both on and off the park. There’s an end to the pandemic in sight, but when will the end to this awful downward spiral come?

I don’t see the point in slating Cox or the players. Yes Cox messed up with the formation last night but we’d have lost however we set up, as Bolton are miles better as a team, and in every area on the park. I actually felt we really matched up quite well in the first half once we got a foot on the ball and arguably we had the two clearest chances. We do seem to be dreadful after re-starts though so whatever is going on at half time needs looking at again. We just didn’t really turn up or the second half.

The squad is very thin and if any of Gillead, KVV and Eisa are missing, we really struggle. Several of our players have given their all over the last ten days and last night was a bridge too far.

I like the way Cox has instilled a team spirit and a willingness to work and battle. There’s enough dung in this league that we shouldn’t be worrying about survival, but anything more than lower mid table is ambitious for this campaign.

I hope the players are able to recover and van Veen is back for next week against Harrogate which will be another hard game. Hopefully that’s the last we’ll see of a 3-4-3 with this limited group of players.

[Jon B]

Howard – 7. Bar one or two poor pieces of distribution he caught and handled the ball really well and was unlucky with the goal.

Rowe- 8. A really fine performance from the young man. Doesn’t look out of place in the first team.

McGahey- 7. Steady, solid, one or two key interventions to block balls being played through.

Onarise- 7. Hard working, decent, building up a good partnership with McGahey.

Brown- 6. Still a little bit off the pace. Some good moments but a few passes going astray. Worked hard though.

Gillead- 7. Stood out in the first half but faded a little when pulled back in the second half to help out at the back.

Spence- 6. Steady but unspectacular.

Beestin -8*. My MOTM. A really determined and hard working shift. Impressive.

KVV- not on long enough to rate. Hallam- 6. Willing but limited. One or two nice flashes but not physical enough when up against the land of the giants.

Loft- 5. Can’t be faulted for effort but really nothing worked out for the lad. Spent the last twenty minutes falling over and looking frustrated.

Eisa- 6. easily marshalled by Morecambe for seventy minutes but crucial to the goal. Such a talent but frustrating to watch at times.

McAtee and Hippolyte had their moments when they came on and did their best. Sadly I don’t think Devarn is good enough for this level but he still has time to prove us wrong.

[Jon B]

Agreed he did really well today, looks very comfortable on the ball and stayed calm under pressure. Good performance.

[Jon B]

Disappointing to concede so late on but a draw was a fair result. We’d really been hanging on in the second half.

I was pleased to see the team working so hard and we did defend well despite one or two heart-in-mouth bad passes out from the back.

However we didn’t have much going forward and it was a bit disjointed between midfield and defence.

Very impressed with Beestin and the centre half pairing today. A few weeks ago the side would have folded up against such a big physical opponent. We really matched them for desire today when the players must have been feeling tired after a hectic round of fixtures.

Looking forward to the game on Tuesday now against a Bolton team that have blown hot and cold this season and are still working out a new identity under a new boss.

The core of the squad is decent. If our better players can stay fit then we’ll be fine. If not, the squad lacks depth and experience.

[Author]

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