The Iron Under-18s exited the FA Youth Cup at the second round stage following a narrow defeat to Barnsley which had seen the side lead at half-time through Tyrell Sellars-Fleming’s goal. The lads performed well across the 90 minutes and arguably deserved to take the tie to extra time at least.
The fourth minute saw a corner to the Iron as Nathaniel Wallace wriggled his way into the box from the right before cutting the ball to Tyrell Sellars-Fleming. He then teed a shot on the edge of the box, which took a slight deflection and went wide.
Just a minute later, there was a shout for a penalty as Robertson was hauled down with his back to goal. The referee dismissed the claims though.
Soon after, there was another big decision from the referee as Charley Strouther sent the ball around the corner for Harrison Poulter. He was in on goal on the edge of the box and looked to have been clearly pulled back by Bland. A caution was awarded by the referee and the Iron had a free-kick on the edge of the box.
Wallace took the resultant free-kick, but sent his effort over the bar.
At the other end, in the 11th minute, Owen Foster was called into action to push away an in-swinging free-kick from Halo from the right. It resulted in a corner for Barnsley, which was headed over by Hickingbottom.
Sellars-Fleming then did well over on the far side to win a corner for the Iron. Strouther delivered towards goal, with Finn Abraham winning the header, but he couldn't direct the ball towards goal.
Scunthorpe took the lead in the 17th minute, and it was opportunistic from Sellars-Fleming, who seized on a mistake and had the easiest of opportunities to slot the ball into an empty net from less than ten yards out.
In the 28th minute, Wallace picked up the loose ball in midfield and fed the run of Sellars-Fleming beyond Bland. Hickingbottom did well though to come across as he pulled the trigger, with the effort flying wide.
After half an hour, a throw on the far side took Wallace towards the edge of the box. His cross turned into a shot on goal, with Carter Rogers back-pedalling and gathering.
Another superb ball around the corner from Strouther saw Poulter get in behind the defence. He shrugged off the defender before picking up the loose ball ahead of the ‘keeper. Carter-Rogers then stayed down after pouncing on the ball and play was halted.
In the 42nd minute, Foster was out to narrow the angle and save from close range following an effort inside his six-yard box.
There was an early second half chance from the hosts as the ball was played in first time from the right, Jalo headed towards goal, but Foster comfortably saw the ball wide of his right-hand post.
The same Tykes player made no mistake on 47 minutes though, as Jalo skipped free from a loose ball on the far side, neatly flicking the ball into his path before rounding Foster and slotting the ball home.
After 53 minutes, Pickard was denied with a close range shot, with the Iron defence remaining strong. Foster gathered the loose ball to prevent a corner.
Ten minutes later, Jalo went down in the area and Barnsley were awarded a penalty. The same player stepped up and converted the spot kick to give the Tykes the lead.
With 20 minutes left, Robertson slid in with a full-blooded challenge and took all of the ball. It dropped to Sellars-Fleming, who took one touch before seeing his shot blocked.
The first Iron change came on 73 minutes when Shay Larkin replaced Devine.
Four minutes later, Robertson was afforded time to turn and shoot from 20-yards out, but his effort spun into the grasp of Carter-Rogers.
In the 80th minute, Wallace cut onto his left foot and saw his shot headed narrowly wide for a corner.
From it, Ben Pike won the header from the resultant corner, with the ball hitting three Barnsley players, almost wrong-footing the goalkeeper before he plucked the loose ball as it was about to go over the line.
There were five minutes of added time but the Iron couldn't quite find the breakthrough.
IRON: Foster, Wallace, Strouther, Elliott-Bell, Abraham, Pike, Devine (Larkin, 73), Robertson, Poulter, Sellars-Fleming, Cribb.
IRON SUBS NOT USED: Burden-Whittleton, Oxborough, Dawson, Dickinson, Giles, Gregory.