Martin Paterson handed Scunthorpe a Championship lifeline as his goal earned them a 1-0 Glanford Park win over promotion hopefuls Charlton.Paterson came off the bench just after the interval to ram home his 12th goal of the campaign in the 63rd minute and demonstrate just why manager Nigel Adkins resisted Norwich's advances for him during the transfer window.
In fact, Adkins appears to have been a big winner in the January window, as Geoff Horsfield, signed on deadline day from Sheffield United, was comfortably the best player on the pitch and a key factor in a win that was Scunthorpe's first at home since September 18.
It was only their third win in 19 games and they are now only a point adrift of safety. Their plight was not helped though by Andy Butler's dismissal for a second yellow card with 15 minutes remaining.
Not that any of that will matter to Addicks' boss Alan Pardew. His side had a prime opportunity to close the gap on the top two but failed to deliver, with Andy Gray's disallowed goal a minute after the break the closest they came.
Apart from winning nearly every ball that was played up to him, Horsfield spurned a good early chance when he flashed a header wide after a Grant McCann free-kick and clearly got under the skin of the Charlton defence.
He was involved in two incidents which resulted in him squaring up to an opponent, the first being Yassin Moutaouakil, and the second Madjid Bougherra who claimed Horsfield elbowed him in a challenge. That prompted an angry reaction from Addicks boss Alan Pardew, who was next to feel Horsfield's wrath.
On the whole, Charlton were disappointing in the opening half. Captain Matt Holland registered their only noteworthy efforts, with two long-range strikes that Joe Murphy dealt with easily.
Not that Scunthorpe were much better in a disappointing opening period. Aside from Horsfield's chance, McCann swung two free-kicks wide and it was fair to say the interval offered welcome respite for both sides.
The fare offered up by both sides improved instantly after the restart, as Gray saw his goal ruled out for offside just a minute in. He strayed in front of Andy Crosby after Jerome Thomas ghosted past Cliff Byrne and squared.
Moutaouakil was left red-faced moments after also, when he blazed wide with an open goal at his mercy. Thomas again caused the trouble when he got free and desite Darren Ambrose stumbling as the ball was squared to him, he was able to shift it across to the full-back who, with Murphy out of his goal, blazed wide.
Moutaouakil was made to pay as well, as it was his mistake that handed Paterson his goal. Eyebrows were raised when Adkins chose to leave the Northern Ireland international on the bench at the expense of Paul Hayes, but he was sharp enough to drill a loose ball beyond Nicky Weaver after Moutaouakil missed with his attempt to clear Cliff Byrne's cross.
Murphy then saved well at Gray's feet as Charlton responded, before Butler became the seventh Scunthorpe player to see red this campaign when he picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Ambrose.
Charlton continued to rally and substitute Chris Iwelumo should have done better when one-on-one with Murphy, but the latter saved excellently with his legs as the home crowd enjoyed a rare home success.
More Football News from TEAMtalk
