Scunthorpe United 3 Colchester United 0

Last updated : 28 March 2009 By Footymad Previewer
Scunthorpe United warmed up for a trip to Wembley next weekend in the final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy with a third successive home win.

It strengthens their place in the promotion play-off positions as they chase a quick return to the Championship.

Leading marksman Gary Hooper paved the way with a goal in each half.

He opened the scoring after 36 minutes taking the ball round goalkeeper Mark Cousins before finding the net with a good finish.

He struck again after 59 minutes when a quickly taken throw-in sent him racing clear from the halfway line to beat Cousins with an excellent finish for his 29th goal of the season.

But it was not all one-way traffic with Colchester looking dangerous in the early stages.

Twice winger Mark Yeates opened up the Scunthorpe defence only to hold his head in frustration when there was no-one in the box to finish off his good work.

It was Yeates who was involved in a controversial incident early in the second half when he went down in the box under a challenge from full-back Andrew Wright but there was no penalty.

The visitors were also out of luck when striker Karl Hawley unleashed a terrific dipping shot from the edge of the box which beat goalkeeper Joe Murphy only to come back into play after hitting both the bar and a post.

It was Scunthorpe who made certain of the points when they struck again in the 69th minute with a brilliant finish from teenage midfield man Henri Lansbury, on loan from Arsenal.

He drilled a shot into the bottom corner past Cousins for his third goal for the club.

As frustration built up in the closing stages for Colchester there was a booking for Yeates as they suffered what was only their sixth away defeat of the season.