Jak’s spot on to keep the Iron rock-solid

STUART McCALL reflected on the narrow margins between success and failure after goalkeeper Jak Alnwick starred in a vital Scunthorpe win.

Alnwick produced an outstanding diving stop to keep out a first-half shot from Liam Sercombe, twice denied Rovers in one-on-one situations, and saved a Chris Lines penalty two minutes before Matt Lund struck the visitors’ 78th-minute winner.

“It’s such fine lines in football sometimes and I can understand if Rovers are feeling frustrated,” said Iron manager McCall.

“One moment they have a penalty and look like winning the game, the next we go up the other end and get the winner ourselves.

“My goalkeeper has been outstanding and we have had to withstand a lot of pressure at a place where it is never easy to get anything.

“We lost Ryan Colcolough in the first half to what looks a nasty knee injury and had to show a lot of character to achieve a really important result.”

The visitors took a 15th-minute lead when Rovers switched off claiming offside as a chip was played into their area and Lee Novak fired home from close range.

The equaliser came during four minutes of first-half stoppage time, added for Colclough’s injury. Sercombe drilled a right-footed shot past Alnwick from 15 yards following Tom Nichols’ cross from the right.

Rovers hit the bar in the first half through a Kyle Bennett shot. Nichols and Bennett failed to beat Alnwick one-on-one and the Scunthorpe keeper made an outstanding diving save to deny Sercombe.

The home side looked set for all three points when Stefan Payne went down in the area and referee Lee Collins pointed to the spot. But Alnwick guessed right and dived to his right to keep out Lines’ spot-kick.

The winner came when Lund, a former Rovers loanee, burst into the box to net with the aid of a deflection that sent his shot looping over keeper Jack Bonham.

Rovers boss Darrell Clarke moaned: “We had loads of chances and scored one. They had two opportunities and took them both. End of story. We have to be more clinical if we are to climb the table.”