Scunthorpe United 1-2 Pilgrims

Avon Insurance League

by Craig Singleton

Goals from Ross Weatherstone and David Town secured an Avon Insurance League Division One East victory for Boston United Reserves on Wednesday. The Pilgrims second string defeated their Scunthorpe United counterparts 2-1 in an ill-tempered encounter at Glanford Park. Boston substitute Tom Bennett and Scunthorpe defender Steve Ridley were both red-carded in a stoppage time melee, which occurred after the hosts saw a goal ruled out for a foul on Nick Conroy. The Pilgrims included two trialists from Halifax Town. Midfielder Craig Smith made his third appearance of the season while centre-half Nicky Heinemann was also included in the line-up. Scunthorpe included half-a-dozen players with first-team experience, most notably Spaniard Alex Calvo-Garcia, who played the full 90 minutes after recently losing his first team place.

The game was Boston Reserves' second trip to Glanford Park this season, just weeks after another heated encounter in the League Cup which ended 3-2 in the favour of the Iron. On this occasion though, Boston went ahead on 39 minutes when WEATHERSTONE nodded home past Neil Collins from a Neil Redfearn corner. But the Pilgrims' lead was short-lived as Iron midfielder Scott BROUGH slotted an equaliser past Conroy just two minutes later. By this time, Steve Ridley had already missed a penalty for the Iron. In the second half, chances were limited and Boston took the points when TOWN rounded Collins to fire home his second goal in the last two reserve team games, and in the process send a timely reminder to manager Neil Thompson, that he is still capable of scoring goals after being frozen out of the first-team picture this season.

United team: 1. Conroy, 2. Clifford (Bennett 65), 3. Gould, 4. Redfearn, 5. R Weatherstone, 6. Heinemann, 7. Hart, 8. Smith, 9. Elding, 10. Town, 11. Cook.