Jermaine Beckford haunted Scunthorpe yet again to sink Scunny but as ever Leeds win was marred by the sending off of Jonathan Howson.

Jermaine Beckford struck twice this afternoon to quell a Scunthorpe fight-back.

The striker came back in style from a three-match ban to nudge Scunthorpe out of the play-off places and move Leeds up to sixth.

Scunny know all about Beckford and if a quirk of fate had happened a couple of years ago, he could have possibly been lining up against Leeds this afternoon.

Beckford went on-loan to Glanford Park two seasons ago and was pivotal in Scunthorpe's League One triumph that season. The Iron desperately wanted to keep him but thankfully no fee was agreed.

Slightly against the run of play, Beckford nudged Leeds in front, Last week's slayer of Cheltenham Johnny Howson provided the cross from the right for Becks to score from close-range on 32.

And on 38 Leeds doubled their lead. Bradley Johnson had started the afternoon on the subs-bench but was called into action on the quarter-hour mark when Andy Robinson limped off. Following a shortly taken free-kick, Johnson powered home a fierce drive, which took a deflection to give Leeds what could have been a commanding lead.

However Leeds' much publicised defensive woes are still apparently. A hopeless mix-up between Ankegren and Parker allowed Scunthorpe's inform man Gary Hooper to pull one back for the visitors on 42 minutes.

Iron fans surely can console themselves at missing out on Beckford thanks to the form of Hooper. Much to the annoyance of the majority of the 24,000 crowd, Scunthorpe were level on 51 minutes and Hooper had notched number 23 of the season. Again defensive indecision cost Leeds dearly, Marques and Parker this time were the culprits having failed to clear.

Howson responded for Leeds with a close effort, but Simon Grayson decided to shuffle things about. He brought on Lee Trundle for Neil Kilkenny, moved Delph into the centre of midfield and put Robert Snodgrass onto the right.

And it was the Scots lad who provided what was the winner. Having fed Beckford clean through, Joe Murphy in the Scunthorpe goal had no chance on 67.

However it was a nervy ending for Leeds. On 80 minutes Howson was dismissed for his second yellow and will now miss Monday's trip to Oldham.

There were a couple of heart-stopping moments in the dying minutes as Scunthorpe squandered two decent chances to equalise. Beckford nearly notched a hat-trick against the club where he found his professional scoring boots. But in the end, we were happy to hold on for three vital points and a double over our dear friends from down the road.

Photo: Action Images

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