Scunthorpe Away - Taking the positives from opening day
The benefit of posting on a Tuesday is my immediate reaction that we had dropped two points there after getting ourselves into a winning position, regardless of what you would have taken pre-match, has settled down. Looking back on it with a cooler head, there is a lot to be genuinely encouraged by.
First half thoughts
This Yeovil side can definitely mix it up. Everyone looks comfortable on the ball: they can play through the lines, or hit the diag to the open wing back. Despite the relatively young profile of the squad, they look aggressive and committed in defense.
Scunthorpe, for large parts of the first half, resorted to long balls deep into the channels. I think we'll see more of that as the season goes on from teams who view our attacking wing backs as a double-edged sword in the way we set up. Having mobile centre backs like JNW and Radcliffe helps enormously to nullify that direct channel ball.
We look comfortable and confident to have the ball, winning it back well, and then happy to take a few passes to secure possession and start again. Having said that, much of our impressive work with the ball was outside the opposition's third, we lacked a bit of creativity and didn't create too much in that first half. I think we can put that down to players being relatively new to each other, alongside a fairly solid Scunthorpe defense. Some of the weaker sides in this league would have struggled significantly with the way we moved the ball around.
Off the ball, we looked content to let Scunthorpe have it, sitting off in a disciplined mid block and forcing them to play out wide. I was particularly impressed with Obeng's work off the ball too, he’s not afraid to get stuck in, nicking the ball from the opposition multiple times before laying it off to a teammate to secure possession and reset.
Second half and key moments
Moving into the second half, that patient groundwork paid off when we broke the deadlock and put ourselves in front. Obeng met the ball brilliantly on the volley from a Jones set piece to put us 1–0 up. For a young player stepping up 2 levels on his league debut, he showed a moment of real quality.
The main talking point of the match came shortly after in the 52nd minute, when McCormick was judged to be offside when through clear on goal. It was great play from Ryan Jones to come inside and slide a weighted ball through for McCormick, who was making those sharp, incisive runs all afternoon. Replays show he looked well onside. Officials are human and make mistakes, and this was definitely one of them. They say over the course of a 46 game season these decisions even themselves out. Well, I’m noting down that we have one in the bank already. It’s deeply frustrating because if he converts that to make it 2–0, the entire dynamic changes, and Scunthorpe are forced to throw caution to the wind much earlier.
As the half wore on, we allowed a lot of crosses into our box, and for their equaliser, it felt no different. There are definitely questions to be asked of the two defenders for letting Luke Brennan stand them up, and pick his spot. I think Barker will be disappointed to concede that one, but equally, I don't think many expected him to be called into action like that with Brennan facing up two defenders inside our area.
Final thought
Leaving with a point stings when you’ve been in a position to take all three, but if Scunthorpe believe they’re going to be right up there again after their playoff finish last season, this performance bodes incredibly well for Rowley’s newly assembled side. Once this group builds more familiarity and sharpens up in the final third, those drawn games will turn into comfortable wins.
How did everyone else see our game management in that second half?