SCUNTHORPE 1 CITY 1

TWO raised fists punching the air towards the fans, a quick cuddle with Callum Cooke and then back to business.

Yann Songo’o wasn’t hanging about after throwing City a lifeline with his first goal for the club.

His celebration showed a man on a mission; someone desperate to get on with it.

The actions of one of those “born winners” that Derek Adams has been talking about.

Only, as we all know, that streak does not seem to run right through the current team.

City, sadly, continue to struggle to get on with the business of climbing League Two after another juicy chance went begging.

They must be a dream for those who fancy a flutter on predicting the correct score. A fifth successive 1-1 on a Saturday is the ultimate gimme on any betting coupon.

But this was Scunthorpe; rock-bottom Scunthorpe; two wins all season Scunthorpe; haven’t kept a clean sheet since August Scunthorpe.

Yes, the conditions were akin to playing on the deck of a North Sea trawler in the eye of a storm.

The wind-chill factor was probably as cold as anyone can remember – and that includes the blizzard-halted visit to Glanford Park earlier this year.

But Scunthorpe, even showing a lot more spirit under new boss Keith Hill, were surely there for the taking.

This should have been the win that Songo’o had mentioned could kick-start the sort of surge he enjoyed under Adams in their Plymouth days.

This should have been the “must win” that local lad Levi Sutton had demanded in the wake of that wretched second-half rollover at Tranmere.

The gap to the play-offs is still the same six points and City did not move from 12th in the table that their manager continues to describe as “irrelevant”.

But he will not be so dismissive about yet another afternoon when the team’s much-vaunted shots tally and xG rating once again masked a complete absence of cool heads in front of goal.

The 1,800 travelling fans, who made up nearly half of Scunthorpe’s biggest crowd of the season, suffered a close-up view as chance after chance somehow slithered through City’s grasp.

I’d say they probably couldn’t believe their eyes – but then we’ve witnessed too many of these “how did they not score then” afternoons already.

Songo’o showed that clinical edge when he threw himself in where it hurts to convert Callum Cooke’s corner midway through the half.

But he was equally culpable as the other guilty parties with a free header that he thumped wide from six yards from another wind-assisted set-piece.

That wasn’t up there with Theo Robinson’s remarkable miss from close range but another example of the shortcomings that underline why City remain slap-bang mid-table in this most ordinary of divisions.

Throw in the sad sight of Abo Eisa limping away before half-time in his delayed first City start and it made for more unsatisfactory viewing in a season that is becoming a painful watch.

As they sign off a win-less November with yet another jaunt to Exeter, there are still no indications of the hiding that Adams promised someone would soon be on the end of.

His threat of changing those who can’t be changed is not an empty one. But fans have become jaded about talk of a “big January”.

They need convincing that this will not become yet another write-off campaign.

Songo’o, at least, demonstrates the fight and will-to-win that it promised on the brochure when Adams was lured from promoted Morecambe.

This was his most influential display for City – in the second half anyway – as he showed why his manager has taken him everywhere he’s been.

This league is not settled on finesse and fancy touches. Songo’o embodies the earthier qualities that are needed to battle out of the basement.

Nothing comes easy – as was evidenced in the first half when City played into the teeth of the icy gale.

The conditions ensured it was the classic “game of two halves” cliché; attack versus desperate defence depending on who had that piercing wind at their backs.

For 40 minutes, City had repelled the forays of the lowest team in the EFL.

The visitors didn’t help themselves by coughing up too many set-pieces which allowed Alfie Beestin, by far Scunthorpe’s most effective player, to pepper the box with weather-aided corners and free-kicks.

City got away with a couple – Emmanuel Onariase somehow managed to clear the bar with a stabbed volley from six yards and Aaron Jarvis steered a free header over.

Richard O’Donnell scrambled to prevent a Beestin in-swinger sneaking in at the near post and one-time Gary Bowyer trialist Myles Hippolyte thrashed the rebound wide.

But they didn’t learn. With City penned into their half, the inevitable home goal was coming and arrived shortly before the break.

Right back Ross Millen crossed early from far out and Jarvis outjumped Paudie O’Connor to power the ball past a rigid O’Donnell from near the penalty spot.

It was another poor goal to concede as the wait for a first clean sheet since Newport extended to an 11th game.

Scunthorpe now had something to hold on to as they braced themselves for the forthcoming battering. City were frantically chasing once more.

Booed off at the break, the away end to their credit roared encouragement for another salvage mission.

White shirts poured forward as the wild weather grew filthier. Once more, the contest was largely played out directly beneath the gaze of the City faithful.

There was still a quarter of the game to go when Songo’o came up trumps and he raced back to the halfway line after scoring to renew the bombardment.

Songo’o then had a strong shout for a penalty after wriggling his way into the corner of the box, only to be nudged over from behind.

Sutton felt equally aggrieved from a similar challenge as he burst through on another typically energetic run.

Alex Gilliead, Scunthorpe’s current player of the year, thudded a post as the pressure grew more frantic but there was also a scare on the counter when a deflection off Alex Perry looped against the City bar.

But the underwhelming feeling at the final whistle is becoming too familiar.

The chill that seeped into the bones was not just down to the inhospitable conditions but the realisation that this is becoming another hard and so far unrewarding slog.