Scunthorpe moved six points clear of the drop zone with a hard-fought victory that piles the pressure on relegation rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
Gary Hooper grabbed the opening goal of the game on 10 minutes as he collected Paul Hayes' slide-rule pass to finish.
Keeper Lee Grant kept Wednesday in it when he tipped a wicked Grant McCann drive over, while Cliff Byrne had to clear off the line at the other end.
But McCann sealed the three points when he prodded home at the second attempt.
Scunthorpe boss Nigel Adkins: "We knew that this game would be the hardest of the season and a defining game in the season. We got off to a great start and after that we had to defend manfully.
"The lads had to show fantastic character. It was against a team in form, a team that gave us a good hiding earlier in the season. To win the game 2-0 just shows how far we've come.
"We have a group of players that have come a long way and we've a lot of ability in this team. We knew it would be a tough game, as it proved to be."
Sheffield Wednesday boss Alan Irvine:
"I think we deserved something out of the game. It was a horrendous start and I'm disappointed about that.
"I'm not going to be too critical, we will hopefully learn. We were on the back foot for the first 20 minutes or so and I thought we got a grip of the game from then on.
"We got in the final third a lot and you have to give credit to Scunthorpe, they defended their box very well. Maybe we needed a bit more quality to open them up. We huffed and puffed a lot but we didn't look like we were going to score a lot of goals."
90:00+3:33 Unfair challenge on Marcus Williams by Luke Varney results in a free kick. Free kick taken by Joe Murphy.
90:00+2:20 Foul by Marcus Tudgay on Grant McCann, free kick awarded. Direct free kick taken by Grant McCann.
90:00+1:49 Unfair challenge on Josh Wright by Mark Beevers results in a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Joe Murphy.
90:00+0:11 Leon Clarke challenges David Mirfin unfairly and gives away a free kick. Free kick taken by Joe Murphy.
88:36 The offside flag is raised against Jonathan Forte. Lee Grant restarts play with the free kick.
87:08 Free kick awarded for a foul by Leon Clarke on Garry Thompson. Josh Wright restarts play with the free kick.
86:41 The assistant referee signals for offside against Akpo Sodje. Joe Murphy takes the indirect free kick.
86:17 The referee blows for offside against Jonathan Forte. Indirect free kick taken by Mark Beevers.
86:02 Free kick awarded for a foul by Etienne Esajas on Cliff Byrne. Joe Murphy takes the direct free kick.
85:40 Marcus Tudgay takes a shot. Josh Wright gets a block in.
85:09 A cross is delivered by Lewis Buxton, Cliff Byrne makes a clearance.
83:31 Luke Varney has an effort at goal from just inside the box that misses to the right of the goal.
83:07 Marcus Tudgay challenges Grant McCann unfairly and gives away a free kick. Joe Murphy restarts play with the free kick.
81:50 Corner taken left-footed by Josh Wright, save by Lee Grant.
81:28 Effort from 12 yards by Paul Hayes. Save by Lee Grant.
81:13 Akpo Sodje concedes a free kick for a foul on David Mirfin. Cliff Byrne takes the free kick.
80:06 Substitution (Sheff Wed) makes a substitution, with Akpo Sodje coming on for James O'Connor.
79:44 Substitution Jonathan Forte joins the action as a substitute, replacing Gary Hooper.
78:24 Luke Varney takes a shot. Blocked by Marcus Tudgay.
76:51 GOAL - Grant McCann:Scunthorpe 2 - 0 Sheff Wed Grant McCann fires in a goal from inside the area to the top right corner of the goal. Scunthorpe 2-0 Sheff Wed.
74:30 Josh Wright challenges Darren Potter unfairly and gives away a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Darren Purse.
73:27 Substitution Etienne Esajas joins the action as a substitute, replacing Michael Gray.
72:00 Shot by Darren Potter from a long way out goes over the crossbar.
69:07 Garry Thompson has an effort at goal from deep inside the area missing to the left of the goal.
68:27 Handball by Paul Hayes. Direct free kick taken by Darren Purse.
67:43 Substitution Brendan Moloney comes on in place of Rob Jones.
66:56 Effort on goal by Marcus Tudgay from deep inside the penalty area misses to the right of the target.
66:16 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Mark Beevers by Paul Hayes. Lee Grant takes the free kick.
65:18 Joe Murphy restarts play with the free kick.
65:18 Substitution (Sheff Wed) makes a substitution, with Luke Varney coming on for Tom Soares.
65:18 Free kick awarded for a foul by Leon Clarke on David Mirfin.
62:29 Effort from the edge of the area by Michael Gray goes wide of the right-hand post.
61:09 Free kick taken by Garry Thompson.
61:09 Substitution Martyn Woolford goes off and Josh Wright comes on.
61:09 James O'Connor concedes a free kick for a foul on Garry Thompson.
60:39 The ball is sent over by Tom Soares, clearance made by David Mirfin.
57:59 Cliff Byrne challenges Tom Soares unfairly and gives away a free kick. Darren Purse takes the direct free kick.
57:35 David Mirfin fouled by Darren Purse, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick taken by Joe Murphy.
56:48 Corner taken by Michael Gray from the right by-line, Marcus Williams makes a clearance.
56:28 Tommy Spurr takes a shot. Blocked by Cliff Byrne.
55:41 Marcus Williams challenges Tom Soares unfairly and gives away a free kick. Michael Gray crosses the ball in from the free kick, Grant McCann makes a clearance.
55:03 Leon Clarke delivers the ball, clearance made by Marcus Williams.
54:16 Martyn Woolford takes a shot from just outside the penalty area clears the crossbar.
53:16 Grant McCann takes a shot. Comfortable save by Lee Grant.
49:24 A cross is delivered by Lewis Buxton, save by Joe Murphy.
47:32 Darren Potter takes a inswinging corner to the near post, Grant McCann makes a clearance.
45:16 Marcus Tudgay has an effort at goal from outside the box which goes wide left of the goal.
45:01 The match restarts for the second half.
Half Time
45:00+1:54 The referee blows for half time.
45:00+0:52 Unfair challenge on Marcus Tudgay by David Mirfin results in a free kick. Free kick taken by Michael Gray.
44:36 Handball by Grant McCann. Direct free kick taken by Darren Potter.
44:08 Centre by Marcus Tudgay, David Mirfin makes a clearance.
42:33 Rob Jones concedes a free kick for a foul on Leon Clarke. The free kick is delivered left-footed by Michael Gray from right wing, save by Joe Murphy.
41:10 Inswinging corner taken left-footed by Michael Gray from the right by-line, save made by Joe Murphy.
40:38 The ball is crossed by Michael Gray, Joe Murphy makes a save.
39:07 Leon Clarke concedes a free kick for a foul on David Mirfin. Free kick taken by Cliff Byrne.
36:00 David Mirfin fouled by Marcus Tudgay, the ref awards a free kick. Joe Murphy takes the direct free kick.
35:07 Tommy Spurr challenges Martyn Woolford unfairly and gives away a free kick. Cliff Byrne restarts play with the free kick.
33:37 Grant McCann sends in a cross, clearance by Marcus Tudgay.
33:18 Short corner worked by Grant McCann.
33:04 Grant McCann takes a shot. Save made by Lee Grant.
26:47 Free kick awarded for a foul by Cliff Byrne on Tom Soares. Free kick crossed right-footed by Darren Potter from left wing, save made by Joe Murphy.
26:22 Mark Beevers fouled by Gary Hooper, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick taken by Lee Grant.
25:22 Centre by Tom Soares, clearance made by Rob Jones.
24:54 A cross is delivered by Michael Gray, Rob Jones manages to make a clearance.
22:08 A cross is delivered by Lewis Buxton, save by Joe Murphy.
21:58 Grant McCann produces a cross, clearance by Tommy Spurr.
19:47 Grant McCann takes a shot. Blocked by Darren Purse.
19:10 A cross is delivered by Gary Hooper, save by Lee Grant.
18:52 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Martyn Woolford by Lewis Buxton. Grant McCann takes the free kick.
17:50 Rob Jones challenges Marcus Tudgay unfairly and gives away a free kick. Darren Potter restarts play with the free kick.
17:13 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Grant McCann by Darren Potter. Grant McCann restarts play with the free kick.
Correction - 15:36 Garry Thompson gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Michael Gray. Mark Beevers restarts play with the free kick.
15:36 Garry Thompson gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Michael Gray. Free kick crossed left-footed by Mark Beevers, save by Joe Murphy.
14:27 Gary Hooper is ruled offside. Free kick taken by Lee Grant.
13:44 Michael Gray is caught offside. Cliff Byrne takes the indirect free kick.
10:32 A cross is delivered by Michael Gray, Joe Murphy makes a save.
9:50 Paul Hayes takes a shot. Save made by Lee Grant.
9:12 The ball is crossed by Marcus Williams, save made by Lee Grant.
7:39 Leon Clarke takes a shot. Joe Murphy makes a comfortable save.
Correction - 6:22 The referee blows for offside against Marcus Tudgay. Indirect free kick taken by Joe Murphy.
6:22 Marcus Tudgay is caught offside. Joe Murphy takes the free kick.
6:02 Paul Hayes concedes a free kick for a foul on Michael Gray. Lee Grant restarts play with the free kick.
Correction - 5:06 Corner taken left-footed by Grant McCann to the near post, clearance made by Michael Gray.
5:06 Martyn Woolford takes the inswinging corner, Michael Gray manages to make a clearance.
4:53 Gary Hooper takes a shot. Lewis Buxton gets a block in.
3:30 Tom Soares has a shot on goal from outside the box which misses right.
2:54 Inswinging corner taken by Darren Potter, clearance by Rob Jones.
1:20 Assist on the goal came from Paul Hayes.
1:20 GOAL - Gary Hooper:Scunthorpe 1 - 0 Sheff Wed Gary Hooper scores a goal from inside the penalty box to the bottom right corner of the goal. Scunthorpe 1-0 Sheff Wed.
0:00 The match has kicked off.
Live text and data provided by The Press Association.
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?