Centre-half Rod McDonald heads Carlisle winner away to struggling Scunthorpe

Centre-half Rod McDonald was Carlisle’s unlikely winner as they put daylight between themselves and the League Two relegation zone with a 1-0 victory at fellow strugglers Scunthorpe.

McDonald headed home his first goal in nearly five years from Callum Guy’s left-wing corner five minutes before the break.

Scunthorpe dominated possession without creating much in the way of clear-cut chances against a Carlisle side playing for the first time in three weeks after a number of Covid-enforced postponements.

The Iron’s Devarn Green and Myles Hippolyte curled efforts wide of the target, Harry Bunn had a header deflected wide and Ryan Loft took too long to shoot when in behind the visiting defence, allowing Morgan Feeney time to get back and block.

As well as helping Carlisle dominate at the back, McDonald also made his presence count in the opposition penalty area on 40 minutes, forcing a header in off the Iron’s Tom Pugh after Guy’s corner found him unmarked at the back post.

The second half followed a largely similar pattern, with Scunthorpe throwing everything forward but not creating many chances.

Carlisle could have won more comfortably had Brennan Dickenson and Jordan Gibson shown better composure with a couple of half chances inside the final quarter.