Never Say Die Potters Get Late Winner!

SCUNTHORPE 2 STOKE CITY 3

Scunthorpe's Glandford Park is not an easy place to go to....Stoke did not have things all their own way in this match,and for a good part of the game were second best to the 'young' home team (average age 22 and getting better all the time according to Manager Adkins!)

Cresswell's opener for Stoke - a shot from the far right side of the penalty box in the 26th minute following a trademark surging run down the right wing, and cut back by Ricardo Fuller - was cancelled out by Hayes on 31 minutes.The second half was bossed by the home team but Stoke did not concede again until the 85th minute when Goodwin scored with a powerful unstopable shot into the roof of the net from some distance out.It looked like that was it,especially as both Fuller and Lawrence had failed with excellent chances to post a lead earlier in the half.

Far from lying down though, the spirited Potters came back strongly as we have come to expect.A Stoke freekick centrefield on the edge of the Scunthorpe penalty area was played right,Lawrence cut the ball in toward goal where an under pressure Hayes put into his own net (88).Scunthorpe heads dropped,and two minutes into added on time Liam Lawrence headed Danny Pugh's brilliant cross on the run from the left wing into the Scunthorpe net to seal the win.The three points take Stoke back up to 7th place in the league table.

After a quietish game on Saturday Danny Pugh was much more prominent in this match playing a part in both Cresswell and Lawrence's goals.The other newcomer Leon Cort also had a very strong game at the heart of the Stoke defence,with Manager Tony Pulis suggesting the player would have a headache after the number of clearing headers that he had put in during the match.Encouragingly Cresswell now has 3 goals in 3 matches...it is good to see that someone in the team might turn Ricardo Fuller's splendid approach work into goals on a more regular basis.

Great result from Stoke....next up Saturday's televised match at The Britannia Stadium against Sheffield United.Lively Liam Lawrence is unfortunately suspended for the match.Could a possible replacement be Jamaican Demar Philips who was once again on the bench last night? Hope so!