Danny Cadamarteri found a way of keeping Dean Windass in check after the game by blocking his car with a couple of traffic barriers.

They were the only stumbling blocks put in the birthday boy's way on a day when absolutely everything else fell into place.

Who writes the scripts for Windass? He turns 37 by notching a hat-trick on his return from a month's exile and City clock up their highest score for a year.

And there were some people out there who questioned whether he should have walked straight back into the starting side.

"I want to sincerely thank the gaffer for playing me," said Windass, trying to sound convincing. "I was 90 per cent sure I'd start but there was still that 10 per cent nagging doubt."

There shouldn't have been. Nobody leaves out a striker who is regarded by all of City's rivals as still the best hitman in the division.

Lee Trundle, Billy Sharp and the like have been banging in the goals - but will they still be doing the business when they are greying at the temples like the Bantams talisman?

He even stole Peter Beagrie's thunder on an afternoon that quickly became a duel between the two evergreen swordsmen.

Beagrie was always destined to serve up something special on his first competitive return to Valley Parade since being hustled out of the exit door by Jim Jefferies five years ago.

A goal and an assist was a pretty good afternoon's work but the 40-year-old was condemned to a bit-part role as Windass inevitably took centre stage.

"People talk about age but that doesn't

matter any more if you look after yourself like Beags does," said Windass.

"All right, I like to have a drink and enjoy myself but I work hard in between.

"Full credit to Beags because in the first half he was their best player. But once they went

4-2 down he was struggling to get the ball."

Colin Todd was wary of the Beagrie factor upsetting his plans for a second home win on the bounce.

The winger received a huge ovation from the City fans when the sides clashed at Glanford Park on New Year's Eve and was guaranteed another special reception back at his old stamping ground.

Beagrie's name was cheered loudly before the game and there was generous applause when he slotted home the Scunthorpe equaliser with a penalty right in front of the Kop that once adored him.

But the happy ending had been booked by Windass, who rightly received a standing ovation when he left the stage a few minutes from time.

"I wasn't going to bring him off because I didn't want him to have the plaudits!" laughed his manager. "But it's better him getting that than Beagrie.

"At least he hasn't come back to haunt us. A lot of supporters may have been looking for that but we kept them quiet."

Referee Jarnail Singh had only passed the pitch playable a few hours before kick-off after heavy morning downpours.

That was one decision he got right - there were plenty of others that were very debatable.

It's not the first time Singh has hit a bum note with City fans; remember Oldham last season? Let's just say he certainly likes the sound of his own whistle.

But he was spot on in giving the foul after seven minutes when Windass was nudged in the back by Steve Foster five yards outside the Scunthorpe box.

Marc Bridge-Wilkinson had been taking the free-kicks in the striker's enforced absence but there was only one man going to step up this time.

Goalkeeper Paul Musselwhite, who inspired no confidence in his defence, stood at his far post before the kick was taken but then shifted across fatally. Windass took aim at the empty space and instead of going over the wall went round it and in off the post.

Incredibly it was only the second time City had scored in the first 20 minutes of a league game this season. The first one? When Windass netted at Hartlepool on the opening day - a long, long time ago.

The early goal should have been the ideal platform but City looked disjointed and out of sorts.

Tom Kearney had recovered from a stomach upset to get the nod in central midfield for his first start since Chesterfield in January. But he looked woefully off the pace and his passing was awry.

Similarly, Joe Colbeck was finding life just as tough on the flank and was unable to rediscover the threat he had shown so well at Walsall seven days earlier.

It was his miscontrol which led to Scunthorpe's quick equaliser. A poor first touch ran away from the youngster, Beagrie swooped on the loose ball to feed Andy Keogh and Matt Sparrow went down under Damion Stewart's challenge as the low cross came in.

It looked a harsh call but the referee had no doubts. Nor did Beagrie with the penalty as he left Donovan Ricketts rooted to the spot with the coolest of side-foot finishes.

Windass 1 Beagrie 1 and the gloves were well and truly off.

While Beagrie milked every moment, the other former Bantam was only worth a few boos. But Steve Torpey should have made his point with a free header which he plonked over the City bar. They were nervous moments for the home side, not helped when Stewart lazily flicked out a boot at a ball over the top and missed it completely.

The Jamaican's lackadaisical approach

fortunately went unpunished by Keogh but the one-time Leeds youngster was proving a handful.

He was at the hub of Scunthorpe's second on the half-hour mark, supplying Beagrie, whose trademark delivery was finished by the stooping Richard Hinds.

City's day was going downhill fast and Singh wound up the home punters by booking Bridge-Wilkinson for a perfectly fair but strong tackle on Keogh. Windass, though, surprisingly escaped an unwanted birthday card after catching full back Nathan Stanton.

Windass showed his better side on the stroke of half-time with a superb pass for Kearney to attack the box but the midfielder disappeared in a crowd of navy shirts to sum up his disappointing afternoon.

City needed a pick-me-up and Todd provided it with a double switch at the break. The arrival of Ben Muirhead and Craig Bentham for Colbeck and Kearney proved a masterstroke.

The boo-boys will give Todd some stick when things do not work out but, for the third match running, his substitutions made a real impact.

Muirhead provided the pace and quality of cross that Colbeck had struggled to find, while Bentham was a revelation in the engine room.

His only previous senior experience was half an hour chasing Paul Merson's shadow at Walsall a year ago. But suddenly he was here, there and everywhere to break up Scunthorpe's rhythm and breathe new energy into the home side.

That exploded in a sensational six-minute burst that saw City score three times.

Bentham had a hand in the first with the deep cross that picked out Lewis Emanuel. He fired it back into the mix where it took a nick off Aaron Wilbraham and fell perfectly into the path of Windass, who could not miss.

The celebration music had barely subsided when it cranked up again. A miscued clearance from Ricketts fell in City's favour, Muirhead motored away down the right and delivered the perfect ball which was bundled in by Bridge-Wilkinson.

Five minutes later and Wilbraham won another flick-on, Windass muscled his way inside Andy Crosby and ignored the crude attempts to haul him down before expertly firing home his hat-trick goal.

The birthday party was in full swing.