Scunthorpe United 2-2 Chester
It was an absolute non-league classic at the Attis Arena as Scunthorpe and Chester played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in front of 7,511 fans, a record attendance for the National League North in the regular season.
The hosts started the game the better of the two sides, buoyed on by a bumper crowd at Glanford Park. However Chester, in their changed strip of yellow, defended well to soak up all the pressure.
Against the run of play the Seals struck first. Calum McIntyre had set up his team to counterattack and it paid dividends on the half hour mark.
The skipper George Glendon intercepted a poor Scunthorpe pass and the ball fell to Charlie Caton. He broke down the left with purpose and found Ben Tollitt on the overlap.
The forward cut inside and he shaped to curl it into the far corner, but he beautifully disguised his shot and drilled it into the bottom left corner. Scunthorpe goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons was rooted to the spot.
The momentum of the game completely shifted after the goal with Chester controlling possession and preventing any potential attacks on Wyll Stanway’s goal, to go into the break one goal to the good.
Scunthorpe came out for the second half with renewed energy and a Kian Scales drilled effort was parried by Stanway within 60 seconds of the restart.
The Iron did capitalise on the pressure to restore parity just short of the hour mark. A flat cross from the right was met by Liam McAlinden, who deftly headed in beyond the outstretched glove of Stanway.
Chester reacted to the equaliser extremely well and it only took five minutes for the Seals to retake the lead. Glendon burst past several Scunthorpe defenders before being cynically chopped down by Will Evans. Almost every player on the pitch stopped and looked at referee Luis Griffiths, expecting a penalty kick to be given. Everyone except Glendon who amidst the protests picked himself up off the floor to smash the ball into the net and send the Chester fans behind the goal into pandemonium.
The Chester fans had barely stopped celebrating when Scunthorpe were reduced to 10 men. The goalscorer McAlinden was late and high on Harrison Burke. After a moment of deliberation, the referee was left with no choice but to send the midfielder off.
To say tensions boiled over in the 74th minute would be an understatement. A Kevin Roberts tackle on the edge of Chester’s box sparked a mass brawl in which six players were shown a yellow card, four for Chester and two for Scunthorpe and perhaps even more bizarrely both ‘keepers.
With the home support willing Jimmy Dean’s men on they managed to equalise for a second time with only seven minutes remaining of the 90. A 20-yard effort from Jacob Butterfield was adroit in it’s accuracy and there was nothing Stanway could do.
The game was on a knife edge for the closing stages of the game with ten minutes added on. Both sides looked incredibly dangerous and capable of finding a winner. However, the biggest two chances fell to Scunthorpe’s second half substitute Danny Elliott.
His first effort had most of the ground celebrating, but it was narrowly wide of the right-hand post. His second effort cannoned off the bar following a scrappy goal mouth scramble.
The final whistle was blown in the 100th minute to end a competitive contest. The spoils ended up being shared in Lincolnshire and it is now ten games unbeaten for Cal McIntyre’s side.
Match Report by Jude Deedigan.
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Chester: Stanway, Taylor, Woodthorpe, Williams, Roberts, Burke , Whitehouse, Glendon (C), Murray, Tollitt (Thomas 87), Caton (Peers 61)
Subs Not Used: Edwards, Daly, Norton,
Scorers: McAlinden 59, Butterfield 82, Tollitt 29, Glendon 65
Attendance: 7511