Gregory Vignal scored a controversial late penalty as Southampton came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Scunthorpe at Glanford Park.Andy Crosby's goal in his 700th career appearance appeared to have handed Nigel Adkins' side a lifeline at the foot of the Championship until, with four minutes left and the ball in open play, referee Jonathan Moss consulted his linesman over an incident seemingly involving Bradley Wright-Phillips off the ball.

Moss duly awarded a spot kick which left Vignal with the task of firing past Joe Murphy, as Adkins and his players angrily confronted Moss during and after the remainder of the game.

The referee and the same linesman had already sent Matt Sparrow off in the 54th minute for a late foul on Wayne Thomas.

Overall though, the result, which does little to assist either side, was rough on Scunthorpe who had taken a 41st-minute lead when Crosby rammed home the rebound after his own penalty had been well saved by Kelvin Davis.

With a strong wind affecting the way both sides approached the game, Scunthorpe had the better of a largely dour opening half, illuminated mainly by Crosby's goal.

Martin Paterson, whose 13 goals are the mean reason why Scunthorpe remain in with a chance of avoiding an instant return to League One, was the star of the half, registering the only efforts on goal and then earning the penalty.

He should have prodded Scunthorpe ahead in the 12th minute when a loose ball fell to him after Geoff Horsfield and Andrew Davies got tangled together, only for him to nudge the ball wide of the post.

It did little to stir the visitors though and the next chance of note also fell to Paterson, who forced a fine save from Davis low to his left as he swung an effort in from 30 yards out.

Despite being backed by a strong wind, Southampton were struggling to trouble Scunthorpe's defence and, rather than defending his own goal, Crosby was soon adding his fourth goal of the season at the other end.

The 34-year-old, who is also the club's assistant manager, was given the opportunity to take a penalty after debutant Ian Pearce, who joined this week from Fulham, tripped Paterson on the edge of the area with the striker going nowhere.

Crosby struck the resulting kick low to Davis' right, only for the keeper to save well with a strong hand, but Crosby reacted quicker than anyone else and followed up to bury the rebound.

Marek Saganowski registered Southampton's first effort with a wild drive that flew over the bar three minutes into the second half, and Stern John also stung the palms of Joe Murphy with a low drive from just inside the area.

But the real turning point came on 54 minutes when Sparrow became the ninth Scunthorpe player to see red this season for a challenge on Thomas.

The visiting full-back seemed to be going high on Sparrow as they challenged for a loose ball and the midfielder reacted by hanging his right foot in, leaving Moss to issue the red card after speaking with his linesman.

Initially Southampton struggled to make their numerical advantage count, with a fanciful lob from Inigo Idiakez the closest they came.

The introduction of Adam Hammill as a substitute certainly helped their cause though, and he soon caused home hearts to skip a beat when he curled an effort just wide of the post.

But the visitors made their belated pressure count when Vignal sent Murphy the wrong way from the spot, before Wright-Phillips wasted an injury-time chance to take all three points when he hit the side netting after rounding Murphy.

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