Despite dominating the second 45 minutes with George Boyd at his mercurial best, Peterborough United were defeated for the second time on the road this season as Scunthorpe United claimed a narrow victory at Glanford Park.

After losing Chris Westwood to a hamstring injury earlier in the week, Peterborough United were dealt another blow after Craig Morgan failed a fitness test on an ankle injury so Kieran Charnock and Shane Blackett lined up at centre back.

A goal-bound shot from George Boyd struck Scunthorpe debutante Krystian Pearce as Darren Ferguson made a decent start to proceedings and from the resulting corner kick, Shane Blackett powered a header wide of the target after an excellent centre from Russell Martin.

There were encouraging signs too with George Boyd on the ball early on and Aaron Mclean was also looking lively. A snap-shot from Boyd swerved into the grateful arms of Murphy on the quarter hour mark after Sergio Torres had shown good defensive instincts to curtail a Scunthorpe attack.

Grant McCann fizzed a 20-yard shot wide of Joe Lewis' left-hand post on 20 minutes as the Scunthorpe fans, out-sung comfortably by the visiting support in the opening exchanges, appealed for handball against Lee.

The hosts were improving and Paul Hayes was causing one or two problems in the air, particularly against Kieran Charnock but as yet, Gary Hooper was struggling to read his flick-ons.

Hooper was disappointed moments later as he failed to convert a Hayes pass, the striker's over-head kick was comfortably claimed by Lewis. Mackail-Smith fired across goal after closing down Iriekpen successfully as Posh responded well.

A clash of heads involving Hooper and Blackett brought a half to the proceedings with five minutes remaining before half-time as both players received treatment from the respective physiotherapists.

The hosts were awarded a spot-kick moments later as Charnock clattered Williams just inside the box, there were no real complaints from the Posh players as they realised there was no way of contesting the decision. HAYES stepped up and coolly converted to give the Iron the lead.

Garry Thompson fired wide of the upright at the start of the second period as both sides came out unchanged from the first half. Mackail-Smith could have levelled the scores on 48 minutes after Mclean fired a low cross into the six-yard box, but the striker didn't expect the ball to fall into his path and he missed his kick to the delight of the Scunthorpe supporters behind the goal.

The response from Posh in the early stages of the second half was good with Torres seeing a shot cleared and there were appeals for a free-kick turned down as the same player wriggled away from the attentions of Williams.

Day curled a free-kick straight against the wall on 57 minutes before Charnock received a bit of treatment for cramp. Charnock was soon replaced as Chris Whelpdale came into the fray as Lee dropped back into central defence. Boyd was given a free role as a result of those tactical changes.

Thompson could have added to the home side's advantage on 62 minutes, but he diverted his shot wide of the target after good work from Hayes. Martin saw a right-footed free-kick tipped over by Murphy moments later after Boyd was fouled on the edge of the area.

There was appeals turned down for handball from the resulting corner kick as the ball appeared to strike the arm of Byrne but the referee waved away the protests. Boyd fired over after a neat one-two with Mclean before Tom Williams replaced Day at left-back.

It was all one-way traffic as Posh continued to dominate and Torres should have equalised after a deep cross by Keates, but the winger couldn't guide the ball home, the ball striking his shin and not troubling Murphy.

With 10 minutes remaining, Posh introduced Liam Hatch and deployed all four attackers in an attempt to get back in the game and Mackail-Smith came close with a volley at the near post following a Williams cross.

The home side nearly scored an undeserved second but it was excellent work by Hooper, but after lifting the ball over Blackett, he lofted his shot over the crossbar. The Iron were certainly proving wasteful in front of goal and they squandered another chance to put the seal on the win, but Thompson fired over from close-range.

Goalkeeper Joe Lewis made his first save of the afternoon as the match entered three minutes of stoppage time, flying to his right to push a Togwell effort around the post.

Final Score: Scunthorpe United 1-0 Peterborough United

Referee: Mr N Miller
Attendance: 4,717 (802 Posh fans)