Scunthorpe come from behind to seal a crucial three points over lowly Plymouth at Glanford Park.
Thompson and Woolford steer Scunthorpe to crucial win
Nigel Adkins' Scunthorpe come from behind to seal a crucial three points over lowly Plymouth at Glanford Park.
Garry Thompson and Martyn Woolford found the scoresheet for the home side who sit two points outside the drop zone with Saturday's win.
Plymouth initially took the lead through Jamie Mackie who broke the deadlock with a low shot inside the six-yard-box.
Their lead was short-lived, though, as Thompson swooped to bring it level with a confident finish into the bottom right corner before Woolford converted a powerful shot from 20 yards out to seal the win.
Defeat leaves Plymouth second from bottom of the Championship table - six points from safety with a handful of games remaining.
Good start
Scunthorpe quickly found their rhythm and with six minutes gone the ball sat up nicely for Woolford and he took a touch before unleashing a powerful strike which Stockdale did well to parry.
Goalkeeper Joe Murphy caused alarm in the Scunthorpe box when he flapped at Yannick Bolasie's corner and at the other end Stockdale made another good save from Grant McCann's long-range strike.
Scunthorpe began to put the Plymouth defence under pressure and Andrew Wright volleyed well over before Stockdale was on hand once again to save from Hayes.
With 28 minutes gone Plymouth took the lead against the run of play when Bolasie powered down the left and cut the ball across for Mackie to tap in.
However the lead only lasted four minutes and Scunthorpe were back in it when Hayes chased the ball down on the right and hooked it into the path of Thompson to sweep home.
With half-time approaching Thompson was sent clean through but Stockdale made an excellent save once again.
At the other end Kari Arnason embarked on a good run into the Scunthorpe penalty area but his shot was tame and saved by Murphy.
The second-half began in tentative fashion and Bolasie had the first meaningful chance following another good run but dragged the shot wide.
Scunthorpe struggled to get going but Thompson broke clear and chipped towards Hayes at the far post but Plymouth managed to scramble the ball away.
The visitors looked the more dangerous of the two and Bradley Wright-Phillips beat David Mirfin for pace before firing in a poweful effort that fizzed just over the bar with Murphy scrambling.
Just as Plymouth had done in the first-half, Scunthorpe went ahead against the run of play in the 65th minute when Woolford's shot from the right side of the penalty area took a deflection on its way past Stockdale.
Scunthorpe could have put the game to bed minutes later when McCann sent Hayes clean through and his shot was superbly saved by Stockdale.
In a frenetic final few minutes Mackie mis-kicked, while Stockdale denied Forte and Thompson as Scunthorpe held on for the three points.
