Scunthorpe United 1 Manchester United 1 - Red Devils bring reasonably strong line-up to Glanford Park
Scunthorpe United held their own against a Manchester United XI in their penultimate pre-season friendly, coming away with a 1-1 draw last night.
Mark Duffy put the home side ahead midway through the first half, but they were unable to keep a clean-sheet as the Red Devils equalised through Nick Powell after the break.
The visitors brought a reasonably strong line-up to Glanford Park, featuring well-known names such as Bebe and Federico Macheda.
But once they worked their way into the match, Scunthorpe matched the Red Devils' passing game.
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In the absence of the injured Paul Reid, United were captained by David Mirfin in his first game back in claret and blue since completing a two-year deal earlier in the week.
And the defender settled comfortably into the heart of the Iron defence, showing his strength to hold off Macheda early on, while Sam Slocombe was alert enough, and quick enough, to cut out a through-ball to the visiting striker as the game reached the 15 minute mark.
Slocombe also did well to mop-up a stinging long-range shot from Powell, but the hosts had managed to carve an early breakthrough of their own – Duffy just not quite able to play in Andy Barcham.
Although chances were limited for Alan Knill's men, Scunthorpe took the best when it came their way.
Bobby Grant couldn't find the goal after good work by the front man on the right-hand edge of the box, but his efforts paved the way for Duffy and he slotted home with 22 minutes gone, beating former Iron loanee Sam Johnstone.
Manchester United had the better chances in the remainder of the half, with Slocombe scooping up a scuffed shot from Davide Petrucci and catching Bebe's effort from distance.
And they picked up from where they left off, grabbing the equaliser with almost an hour gone as Powell neatly finished off a flowing move on the left.
The game petered out somewhat in the second half, with a curled attempt from Duffy which flew well off target and a wild strike from Grant the only real efforts of note.
Knill though, did give runouts to Irish trialists Mark Hughes and Jordan Keegan who United are hoping to complete deals for, while Connor Jennings came close to marking his 15-minute appearance with a goal – forcing Johnstone to catch a well-struck effort.
SCUNTHORPE: Slocombe; Ribeiro, Mirfin, Canavan, Newey; Duffy (Godden 90+1), Walker, Gibbons (Hughes 70), Barcham (Keegan 79); Grant, Grella (Jennings 75). Subs: Severn, Godden, Howe, Bopp, Smythe, Vernam.
MANCHESTER UNITED: Johnstone; Vermijl (Cole 81), Keane, Wootton, Brady; Bebe, Powell, Tunnicliffe, Lingard; Petrucci (King 85), Macheda. Subs: Sutherland, Giverin, Veseli, Blackett.
ATTENDANCE: 1,316 (124)
Comments
by PStoff
Sunday, August 05 2012, 11:34AM
“I was chatting with my o;d mate Fergie in the bar at half time - he was here to watch Powell.”
by Oldironfan
Sunday, August 05 2012, 9:30AM
“You can't read a lot into pre-season games but the presence of Fergie in the directors box suggested that there might be something worth watching.
Iv'e got to admit that I was concerned about the pedigree of some of our recent imports but to be fair, the quality of passing and movement was every bit as good as that shown by our ex-championship hangers-on
We competed well with a good Manchester reserve team and I found the performance quite encouraging.
There is plenty of purpose about the approach play but we need to get our shots off more quickly.
Here's hoping.”