SOUTHEND United are still waiting for their first ever win at Glanford Park after suffering a 3-1 defeat against Scunthorpe United this afternoon.

The Shrimpers opened the scoring midway through the first half with Jason Demetriou firing them in front.

But the Iron fought back to secure all three points, meaning Blues have failed to triumph in 14 attempts at Scunthorpe’s current home.

Phil Brown’s side have now also suffered four defeats in succession but came close to taking an early lead when Demetriou stabbed Stephen McLaughlin’s left wing cross wide of the right post.

However, Scunthorpe immediately hit back and came even closer to breaking the deadlock when Conor Townsend’s left wing cross picked out Tom Hopper only for the striker to see his well-struck shot superbly saved by Shrimpers goalkeeper Mark Oxley.

Moments later, Oxley pulled off another stunning save as he tipped a close range header from van Veen onto the underside of the crossbar.

The Blues shot-stopper went down injured after making the save but, after a lengthy spell of treatment on what seemed to be his back, Oxley was able to continue.

Scunthorpe remained on top when play resumed with van Veen struggling to get the ball out from under his feet with the goal gaping.

But, after surviving the scares, the Shrimpers hit back to open the scoring in the 25th minute, with Demetriou bagging his fourth goal of the season.

The Cypriot international – who was pushed into a more attacking role on the right hand side of midfield – unleashed a well-struck shot from 35 yards and saw it hit the back of the net after wrong-footing Iron goalkeeper Matt Gilks with a deflection.

However, Blues were only in front for seven minutes as Scunthorpe soon hit back to equalise when a goalmouth scramble resulted in van Veen heading home from close range.

The game stayed level until half-time where the Shrimpers were forced into making their first change of the afternoon as the injured Oxley made way for 18-year-old Nathan Bishop who was handed his first team debut.

The youngster’s first involvement saw his gather Hopper’s long range shot at the second attempt before Blues hit back with McLaughlin having a 25 yard effort deflected inches wide of the left post.

With play soon switching back to the other end of the field, Bishop then did well to parry away a well-struck shot from Duane Holmes.

But, with 63 minutes on the clock, the Iron took the lead when Hakeeb Adelkun’s quickly taken left wing corner caught out the Shrimpers and enabled Townsend to net with an accurate, left footed shot.

Moments later, Scunthorpe came close to making it 3-1 when van Veen’s header from another left wing corner was cleared off the line at the far post by Demetriou.

After surviving the scare, Blues soon came close to netting an equaliser when Anthony Wordsworth’s low 20 yard volley was impressively blocked by Iron goalkeeper Gilks.

However, Scunthorpe soon replied with van Veen dragging a 20 yard shot wide of the left post before Bishop also did well to deny Adelakun.

But the Iron sealed their win in the 86th minute when Holmes’ left wing corner was volleyed into the roof of his own net by Shrimpers defender Michael Turner.

Blues boss Brown responded by bringing on striker Norman Wabo for his first team debut but by then the damage had already been done as his side suffered yet another setback on the road.