Words Alex Birch | Pictures Jonathan Moore

Scunthorpe 2 Altrincham 1

Alty were hit late as playoff-chasing Scunthorpe claimed the points in stoppage time at the end of a frantic game at The Attis Arena.

The home side made a quick start to proceedings, forcing Alty onto the back foot, but a Josh Grant goal line clearance aside, Neil Gibson's men dealt well with the threat over the first 20 minutes.

They might have even taken the lead on 10 minutes, but Lucas Weaver's effort cleared the bar after an inventive back post nod down by Tom Crawford.

Joe Rowley had Luke Hutchinson momentarily worried with a curling shot from outside the box, but otherwise it was pressure without end product for The Iron.

Then, against the run of play, Alty hit the front in clinical fashion on 40 minutes. Tom Crawford played in Sam Reed down the left and the full-back's cross was expertly dispatched past Louis Jones by Weaver.

Isaac Marriott could have doubled the Robins' advantage within two minutes of the restart, only for his header to fly over the Scunthorpe bar off a Tylor Golden centre.

Soon though, it was the home side with their tails up and an equaliser materialised on 64 minutes when Joe Starbuck found the bottom corner from just inside the Alty box.

The game thereafter became slightly hectic; Starbuck had two more efforts in quick succession - one wide and one deflected, as the home side turned up the pressure.

Despite this, it looked like Alty had managed to weather the worst of the attacking storm, only for sub Alfie Beestin to hammer home from 18 yards in stoppage time, robbing the Robins of a point on the road.

Scunthorpe Jones; Horton, Boyce (c), Whitehall (Beestin, 63'), Rowley, Tahir (Barrows, 85'), Starbuck, Hurst (P.Jones, 46'), Westbrooke, Farrell (Smith, 88'), Denton (Ewing, 63'). Subs not used: Belehouan, Mahady.

Altrincham Hutchinson; Reed (Reddin, 69'), Cooper, Grant, Marriott (Barnes, 80'), Knowles, Weaver (Kirk, 75'), Crawford (c), Golden, Humbles, Jones. Subs not used: Bailey, Fallon, Mattison.

HT 0-1

Goals Starbuck 64', Beestin 90'+1 | Weaver 40'

Yellows Horton 7', Jones 90'+4 | Cooper 49'

Reds None | None

Referee Simon Mather

Assistants Stephen Rushworth & Michael Burrows

Fourth Official Jack Forder-Hay

Attendance 5,042 (129 away fans)

Next Up

Back home next Saturday to take on Southend United in the Enterprise National League (kick-off 3pm).

General admission tickets are available online here and the final few hospitality seats in The John King Lounge can be found here.