Scunthorpe United v PNE
Glanford Park
Coca-Cola Championship
Tuesday 15th September, 7.45pm kick-off
Final Score: Scunthorpe United 3 PNE 1 (McCann 12, Hooper 42, 53; Parkin 59)
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2138: It probably wasn't meant to end like this, but the run had to conclude some time, so fingers crossed that PNE can simply take this one on the chin and bounce back with the right result on Saturday at home to Coventry - I'm sure they will. Matt Morris will be at the keys of this laptop to cover that one for you if you can't be at Deepdale in person - let's hope he's got plenty of positive stuff to write about. See you later...
90+5 mins: Some 25 seconds or so later than planned, the referee calls time on North End's first competitive defeat - at any level - of 2009/10.
90+4 mins: Murphy catches another ball into the box and that may well be that.
90+3 mins: As the remaining moments of my final minute-by-minute ebb away, I'd just like to thank everyone who has passed on so many kind comments about my coverage while I've been here, it means a lot. I hope Matt, Nigel and Ben can carry on entertaining you once I've gone.
90+2 mins: Mellor loops the ball into the box via an overhead kick, but Murphy gets to it and holds on with glee. Byrne then cuts out PNE's next attack, an Elliott cross, by chesting the ball back to his keeper in tricky circumstances.
90+1 mins: Hooper is desperate for that hat-trick, but he won't get it this time, as the flag goes against him.
90 mins: There will be a minimum of four minutes of added time.
89 mins: Substitution for Scunthorpe - another one, O'Connor and his luminous boots off, a more sensibly dressed Cliff Byrne coming on.
88 mins: Substitution for Scunthorpe - probably a time-wasting change as much as anything as Sam Togwell is replaced by Matt Sparrow.
87 mins: McCann spots Lonergan about 15 yards off his line, but misses the penalty area, never mind the goal, with an audacious attempt from just within his own half.
86 mins: Everyone's getting in on the act of trying to steal this game back, Youl Mawene prowling miles away from his station to help pump the ball into the box.
84 mins: It's fair to say that this game has definitely stood up to the level expected in terms of excitement and tension, but PNE will be disappointed that they've not been able to contain some very lively opposition front players and not made more of the possession they've had in some promising positions. But there's still time to go...
81 mins: Wright appeases the six-year-old inside all of us by hopelessly aiming a shot straight over the roof of the stand and out towards the Travelodge next to the ground where Dave Seddon will be spending the night. If you take umbridge with his report, you'll know where to find him...!
80 mins: A very loud man to my left screams 'Come on The Iron!', almost as if he's having trouble ironing his shirt in a hurry as he can't get the blessed appliance to heat up quickly enough.
77 mins: Substitution for PNE - the last throw of the dice, it would seem, as the hard-working Sedgwick heads off to give Darren Carter a chance to try and impact upon the game.
76 mins: Hooper should have killed the game after being sent clear on goal from Hayes diagonal ball upfield, but Lonergan comes out, makes himself big, and despite being rounded, he hyper-extends those ever reliable arms of his and parries the ball away from danger despite being left exposed.
74 mins: PNE don't get the corner they think they've earned as a cross seems to deflect away from the intended target of Elliott, and the North End fans in close proximity to the penalty area action are getting pretty irate with the officials.
73 mins: Substitution for PNE - Mellor for goalscorer Parkin.
70 mins: Yellow card - Sedgwick makes a justifiable challenge for a loose ball with Murphy, unintentionally catching the keeper with the force of his challenge. The referee doesn't like it, even though no malice was intended, so brandishes his card, while the home defenders go ape, pushing and shoving the PNE man as if it will suddenly make everything alright. Murphy gets up ok and the game continues after a fair stoppage.
69 mins: Good play from PNE. Elliott turns Williams inside out repeatedly before crossing onto Chaplow's forehead, but the goalbound effort is held by Murphy at just short of crossbar height.
68 mins: The ball holds up in mid air as Nolan tries to shield the ball back to his keeper, just allowing O'Connor a split second to stick his boot in between the pair and turn the ball over the bar.
67 mins: Substitution for PNE - Ross Wallace's night is over as PNE try something different - Chris Brown the arrival. Will that mean 4-3-3?
66 mins: Jones blocks at full stretch from O'Connor as the Championship newcomers go chance crazy.
65 mins: Wright tries to find the target from outwith the box through a low dipping shot, but Lonergan gets to the pitch of the ball to make a diving stop.
61 mins: We had barely got back to our own half before Scunthorpe launched another assault on our goal. The ball evades Chilvers in flight, and lands at the feet of the last man you'd want it to, Hooper, but fortunately Nolan is on the scene to stick out a leg at precisely the right moment and give away a corner that he'll be happy to concede.
59 mins: Goal for PNE! The fightback has started. Wallace's corner from the left is headed towards goal, though not looking like hitting the target, so Jon Parkin reacts quickly at the near post to thump the ball into the roof of the net from point blank range. 1-3
56 mins: The home side's left back, Marcus Williams, takes a throw in just down in front of our vantage point. From a distance, he bears a passing resemblance to our old left-back Matt Hill, and also carries himself a little bit like him too.
54 mins: Hooper was only sub for the amazing win at Palace on Saturday - they seem to have some strength in depth if they can afford to use him that sparingly! It's been a remarkable start to 2009/10 for The Iron, who have twice lost 4-0 and also won by the same scoreline with only six games completed so far, with Derby having lost here in a five goal thriller too.
53 mins: Goal for Scunthorpe! It looks a long way back from here. A very simple counter attacking move sees O'Connor thread the ball along the floor, Hooper able to find a gap between the deepest of the defenders, and he refuses to waste an invitation to smash the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the area, his second of the game. 0-3
52 mins: Wallace goes down on the right hand side in need of a little bit of treatment - it seems to be his face that has taken a blow in the aftermath of swinging in the corner that Sedgwick won.
51 mins: Sedgwick has a go from 20-odd yards, the ball hitting Spence before looping away for a corner at the end that houses the travelling faithful.
50 mins: The crowd have lowered their tone now that PNE have the majority of the possession, most of it just inside enemy territory.
46 mins: Yellow card - Scunthorpe immediately throw bodies into their attack, and Mawene is booked for body-checking Hayes as he tried to start a forage from within the centre circle with pretty much the entire North End half at his mercy.
2048: The second half kicks off.
2047: The players return to the field ready for further battle. This could be a big 45 minutes.
2041: I've just been passed a note to tell me that the attendance tonight is 5,383, with 707 PNE fans amongst us. My guess of 600 to 700 just before kick-off wasn't too far off the mark - I'm getting good at this! I was only 54 away from correctly guessing the gate at Huddersfield v Wigan in the rugby league on Sunday and 300 out with my guess for the Deepdale crowd the day before. I should start paying for a seat in the Great Room, purely so that I can enter their 'guess the gate' competition.
2039: Similar-ish half-time fayre to Deepdale here, with the fans battling against a Countdown-style clock, seemingly with the intention of hitting the bar from the edge of the box in order to win a prize. The jackpot offering isn't immediately evident.
2033: Time to calm it all down a little bit after a fairly manic first 45. Let's see what sort of half-time entertainment the locals can provide for us. So far, it appears that interval entertainment consists of home fans shouting anti Hull City abuse at the BBC Radio Humberside presenter, which seems a little small-minded. Luckily the dissenters are in the minority.
45+1 mins: The home fans, with a certain lack of charity, sing 'You might as well go home' to their opposite number. Given that the half-time whistle has just blown, I might as well go in search of a drink.
45 mins: A minimum of one added minute will be played. It has been a frantic half - it may be best if we cool it down for 15 minutes and re-group, unless a wondergoal is forthcoming in the few seconds that remain.
44 mins: Yellow card - Billy Jones is cautioned for an illegal challenge on the fair haired Josh Wright.
42 mins: Goal for Scunthorpe! The ball breaks through a melee of bodies from the right hand side of the box (my typing duties mean I can't quite see who the creator is), into space on the left where goal machine Hooper lurks with nobody in attendance. He takes a touch before smashing the ball home via Lonergan's torso. 0-2
40 mins: The ball breaks and Hooper is in from Hayes' pass, but Sedgwick gets back to clear off the line after the striker entices Lonergan into a smother.
39 mins: A Sedgwick cross is cleared for a corner by a man hidden behind a pillar that runs right through the box as I look at it. Mawene gets up to attack the delivery but keeper Murphy just about beats him to it and punches clear.
38 mins: Wallace crosses low into the box from the left, but as with so many crosses we've produced in the last ten minutes or so, the ball just keeps being repelled by the home defence.
37 mins: As play drifts into a lull, I'm sure I can see Jonny gazing lovingly towards the blondes once more. I know you're reading this Jonny, I can see it on your desktop. Buck up your ideas! (By that, I mean get her number now, you're wasting valuable time lad!).
32 mins: It seems that the stadia in this part of the world just aren't built for the modern game. Just as with last month's trip to Doncaster, North End have staff spilling out of the inadequately sized dug out that are forced to take up perches on the perimeter wall, a mere quad stretch's distance from the touchline. The technical area is about as wide as a set of double yellow lines at this ground - almost every spectator is on top of the action in some way or another, although our relatively low vantage point means that the far touchlines do appear to be a fair distance away.
29 mins: Chaplow's shot from 20 yards or so strikes Sam Togwell on the backside before spinning to safety. North End are getting a better foothold in this game, and have started to force a few corners which the likes of Wallace and Shumulikoski are drifting into the box.
25 mins: Eddie Nolan produces a moment of class to spin inside an onrushing winger despite being stranded as the last man back, and casually plays a floated ball upfield to relieve a bit of the pressure.
23 mins: Hayes has a pop at goal and Sedgwick has to produce his mannequin trick again to stop the ball from getting to close to Lonergan's net.
22 mins: It's been a bit of a bombardment for a few minutes, with the yellow booted O'Connor this time firing a shot towards the top corner from a left wing free kick, some way out, that Lonergan does well to turn away.
20 mins: Jordan Spence crosses from the right, O'Connor heads over, with the ball seeming to loop well over the bar before dipping at the last minute to turn the chance into a near miss instead.
17 mins: The home side force three corners on the bounce. They won 4-0 on Saturday and with an early lead here they're buoyant.
16 mins: McCann whips a threatening free kick into the box with his left foot, but Sedgwick stands firm like one of those red metal mannequins they have at the training ground to divert the ball away with his head.
13 mins: Scunny have just about edged the early procedings, so a goal is not entirely unexpected in terms of the balance of play, but it's disappointing seeing as we've had a decent amount of possession in the right kind of territory, primarily in attacking positions on the flanks.
12 mins: Goal for Scunthorpe! Talisman Gary Hooper breaks away behind North End's last line of defence, and with claret and blue shirts outnumbering white in the centre of the box, Grant McCann's task of side-footing home a cross from ten yards is pretty straightforward. 0-1
10 mins: There's a bit of a breeze picking up, leaving the flags on the roof of each stand fluttering.
8 mins: Sedgwick chips a delightful ball into the path of Elliott, who runs free on goal as Rob Jones fails to deal with the aerial assault. Sadly his touch is heavy as he hits the edge of the box, and Murphy is out to smother, to some relief. Big chance, well created by the returning Sedge.
6 mins: 'Iron! Iron! Iron!' rings out the cry to greet a home corner, as directed by the LED delight of the scoreboard above where the PNE fans are housed in the AMS Stand.
4 mins: Paul Hayes probes down the right after being sent clear on the counter from Josh Wright's punt. The cross causes a slight moment of panic before being unceremoniously cleared by a man in a white shirt.
2 mins: 80 seconds in, and the first ball is hoofed out of the stadium; looks like Liam Chilvers was the man responsible for the 'Peter Kay kick' over on the far side in the gloom. Dave Seddon from the LEP is seated next to me, and he has already noted that the floodlights aren't the brightest; I concur.
1946: The game commences, a little late by my watch.
1944: Good job my Hull FC supporting colleague Matt isn't covering this game - the journalist just to my left on the row in front has just unveiled a Hull KR desktop on his laptop.
1942: The teams are making their way out onto the field, so the crowd rise to their feet (with the exception of those on the terrace, who are already stood up, and should probably show their appreciation by sitting down). Jonny's 'view' is now obstructed as far as the action goes, but he's just given me the thumbs up for the new view he's been granted as te blondes get a little bit excited as their heroes emerge.
1938: Our new recruit Jonny has just spotted some 'Scunny Honeys' as he has described them in a surrupticious text to me. He's stranded on a different row to me, a few seats along, but isn't complaining with some tasty blondes now there to be ogled at directly in front of him.
1935: As was threatened prior to the game, our cameraman has been kicked off the already-full-to-capacity gantry, meaning our match coverage will probably be filmed from outside the stadium. Hope you like the corrugated sheet metal cladding that so many of the late 80s/early 90s grounds boast.
1931: The PA announcer has just announced the arrival of the draft bitter and lager at the ground, which is tempting, but his voice appears to break mid-announcement, making him sound a little bit less authoritative.
1930: Shumi is being made to feel welcome by his new supporters - someone has clearly been on eBay given that I can see a Macedonian flag being waved with gusto amongst the noisy away following. Probably about 600-700 North Enders over to my right as things stand.
1928: The roof of each stand at this ground is pretty low - probably not much higher than the roof of the main terrace at Victory Park in Chorley. It means that several shots during the warm-up have come perillously close to leaving the stadium; each one that clatters against the cladding on the roof receiving a cheer from the fans in that end.
1926: Nope, no mistake, definitely off due to the rain that has fallen on the capital. It hasn't rained here in the north for days, a bizarre turnaround in fortunes that will probably go unreported in the London media.
1925: I'm just hearing that QPR v Crystal Palace is off due to a waterlogged pitch... surely some mistake?
1914: It's interesting to keep an eye on Scunny keeper Joe Murphy as he is put through his paces, given that his haircut, base layer and three quarter length trousers make him a very passable double for Andy Lonergan, who is obviously a good 100 yards or so towards the other end of the pitch. I certainly had to double take when I first saw him out there.
1911: This is probably the tightest ground in the division, but it means we're right on top of the action. It's a bit of a squeeze in the press box, but brilliantly everything seems to work, which is all that matters to me. Great to see a terrace still in place at this level too, we're about a Jon Parkin throw away from those who have chosen to stand this evening; that's by far the busiest part of the ground already.
1903: Team news is in, nice and early, and it's all change once again. I can see five changes to the side that started the action on Saturday, with Chris Brown, Darren Carter and Neil Mellor dropping to the bench, Paul Parry injured and Sean St. Ledger departed. Youl Mawene is one of those who returns, and immediately assumes the captain's armband. New names to look out for also include Shumulikoski, Sedgwick, Parkin and Elliott.
PNE: Lonergan, Jones, Chilvers, Mawene (capt), Nolan, Sedgwick, Chaplow, Shumulikoski, Wallace, Parkin, Elliott. Subs: Henderson, Hart, N Collins, Brown, Carter, Mellor.
Scunthorpe: Murphy, Williams, Togwell, McCann, Hayes, Hooper, Jones, Mirfin, O'Connor, Wright, Spence. Subs not used: Slocombe, Byrne, Sparrow, Thompson, Forte, Woolford, Canavan.
1900: Lilywhites Live is starting any moment now. Tune in or miss out.
1856: A group of youngsters in front of me attempt to hit the high notes as they sing along to 'Going In For The Kill' (or whatever it's called) by La Roux. If you know the high notes of that particular song, you'll know why they're failing miserably.
1844: We're here and we're ready for action... or thereabouts. There's still a fair bit of technical wizardry to be undertaken before we're truly ready to give you full match coverage here from Glanford Park, but we'll soon be all set for full coverage on PNE Player with Matt Hardman, Andy Saville and Steve Cowell, with Jonny Lally on match report duty and Adrian Ward - for one final time - on minute-by-minute coverage.
