» Robins stay third thanks to Reid’s early penalty
REUBEN Reid’s early penalty ensured Cheltenham Town continued their impressive start to the League Two campaign with a 1-0 home win over Scunthorpe United.
The away side were without manager Neil Cox and his assistant Mark Lillis due to Covid-19 protocol after an unnamed member of the playing squad recorded a positive test.
That meant Under-23s coach Russ Wilcox led the team on the night and he saw his team concede after just five minutes.
Elliot Bonds was fouled by George Hornshaw in the box and referee Sam Allison pointed to the spot.
Reid stepped up and scored his fourth goal of the season in all competitions, but his first in League Two.
Cheltenham controlled much of the first half, with a low Aaron Jarvis shot that was comfortably saved by Josh Griffiths Scunthorpe’s only real effort.
Rory Watson pulled off a fine double save to deny Matty Blair and then Liam Sercombe in the 52nd minute as Cheltenham looked for a second.
Scunthorpe stayed in the game and were close to levelling when Mason O’malley thumped a shot wide in the 73rd minute before Abo Eisa fired straight at Griffiths from a good position.
Substitute Andy Williams forced Watson into another diving save in the 79th minute, but Cheltenham had done enough for their fifth win in seven games.
The only downside for boss Michael Duff was the loss of loan midfielder Bonds (knee) and forward George Lloyd (concussion), who both had to be carried off on a stretcher in the first half and second half respectively.
Straight after the game, Duff said: I’ve not seen Lloydy since I’ve walked back into the dressing room. I genuinely couldn’t tell you anything about him.
“Obviously it wasn’t particularly nice and 10 minutes of injury time tells you.
“He was awake and talking and I think there was a dilated pupil or something but I am not a medic.
“Bondsy, I have seen him. It didn’t look great and his reaction didn’t look great either, but until we know the facts there is no point speculating.”
On the game, Duff said: “I thought we were good. They banked in, they were hard to beat and they had a right go.
“They were a threat on the counter but I thought it was a professional performance and we saw it out well.
“Any win in this league is tough, make no mistake.
“We are not naive enough and I keep saying it every week because it’s true, Scunthorpe have had two poor results and they knew they were coming to a half decent team, so they were ready for us.
“We started brightly and the only criticism is at times we could keep the ball a little bit more.
“We almost went into protection mode a bit too early, too soon at times, but in the last 20 minutes we saw it out really well and calmed it down.”
Cheltenham sit third in League Two, a point behind leading pair Cambridge and Newport after seven games and Duff is “absolutely delighted” with that start.
“Any manager who says they aren’t happy with 15 points from seven games, no matter how you get them, is a liar in my opinion.
“Everyone would have taken that so the key now is to keep moving forward, having that mentality of going again and again and again and doing it authentically as well.
“Seven games gone, 39 to go and we’ll do what we’ve always done, try to win the next game.
Cheltenham Town: Griffiths; Raglan, Tozer, Boyle; Blair, Clements, Bonds (Sang 38), Sercombe, Hussey; Reid (Williams 68), Lloyd (Addai 89). Subs not used: Harris, Thomas, May, Freestone.
Scunthorpe United: Watson, Bedeau, Onariase, Gilliead, Eisa, Jarvis (Loft 81), Spence (Mcatee 61), Cordner, Hornshaw (Green 54), Taylor, O’malley. Subs not used: Kelsey, Beestin, Rowe, Dünnwald-turan.