Ivan Toney struck the only goal of the game as Scunthorpe moved into the League One play-off zone at the expense of opponents Charlton at The Valley.
The 1-0 win lifted the Iron up to fifth spot in the table, two points ahead of the lacklustre Addicks.
The game sprung into life in the 20th minute with a save at either end, Ben Amos first denying Hakeeb Adelakun and then Iron goalkeeper Matt Gilks thwarting Nicky Ajose moments later.
Scunthorpe made the breakthrough in the 31st minute when Adelakun beat the offside trap and burst clear on the right, squaring a low ball into the danger zone for Toney to tap home from six yards.
Josh Morris blazed a stoppage time free-kick over the crossbar from just outside the box as Scunthorpe finished the first half strongly.
Toney produced a super save from Amos five minutes after the restart when meeting Rory McArdle's free-kick and unleashing a powerful volley which the Charlton keeper did well to tip over.
Jake Forster-Caskey glanced a header wide and Ajose saw a curling effort fly just over as Charlton finally began to ask some questions.
Adelakun was only denied by a crucial block from Patrick Bauer and once more in the 71st minute when Amos had to save his goalbound attempt.
There were late penalty appeals from the hosts as Ajose and Bauer both claimed to have been pulled back in the box within the space of 60 seconds.
But both were ignored by referee Graham Salisbury and even though Ben Reeves and Tariqe Fosu went close at the death, in the end this was a far more comfortable victory than the scoreline suggests.
English League One Standings
POS | Team | GP | GD | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hull City | 41 | +39 | 79 |
2 | Peterborough United | 40 | +32 | 76 |
3 | Sunderland | 39 | +29 | 71 |
4 | Blackpool | 38 | +17 | 64 |
5 | Portsmouth | 39 | +15 | 64 |
6 | Lincoln City | 38 | +15 | 63 |
7 | Charlton Athletic | 39 | +6 | 62 |
8 | Ipswich Town | 39 | +3 | 60 |
9 | Oxford United | 40 | +11 | 59 |
10 | Gillingham | 41 | +2 | 59 |
11 | Doncaster Rovers | 38 | +3 | 57 |
12 | Accrington Stanley | 39 | -5 | 57 |
13 | Fleetwood Town | 40 | +10 | 56 |
14 | Milton Keynes Dons | 40 | +1 | 55 |
15 | Crewe Alexandra | 39 | -7 | 54 |
16 | Plymouth Argyle | 41 | -16 | 52 |
17 | Shrewsbury Town | 38 | +1 | 50 |
18 | Burton Albion | 39 | -13 | 48 |
19 | Northampton Town | 41 | -24 | 40 |
20 | AFC Wimbledon | 39 | -21 | 39 |
21 | Wigan Athletic | 40 | -24 | 38 |
22 | Bristol Rovers | 41 | -24 | 38 |
23 | Swindon Town | 40 | -27 | 37 |
24 | Rochdale | 39 | -23 | 33 |
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