Iron end Saddlers drought

Gary Hooper scored twice to fire Scunthorpe to their first win over Walsall for 14 years.

Hooper inspires Scunthorpe to cup success

Scunthorpe striker Gary Hooper scored twice to fire Scunthorpe to their first win over Walsall for 14 years as they won 3-1 at the Banks's Stadium Hooper's brace plus a goal from Kevan Hurst gave the visitors a deserved win over a Walsall side who had Ishmael Demontagnac sent off late in the game. Former England striker Ricketts gave Joe Murphy no chance with a sweet side-footed volley to give the home side the lead after 25 minutes. But three minutes before the break Hooper was on target as he received a pass from Paul Hayes and hit a powerful shot from a tight angle which Clayton Ince could not keep out despite getting a hand to it. Scunthorpe then took the lead when Hooper notched his 11th of the season after Martyn Woolford sent him one-on-one with the goalkeeper and he slotted past Ince. Demontagnac then saw red for an off-the-ball incident before Hurst wrapped up the win with a stunning long-range shot to top off a convincing performance from Nigel Adkins' men.