ANDY RITCHIE hasn't taken long to decide Town need more pace and cutting edge.

There's been a universal `thumbs up' from inside the camp to Ritchie's arrival at the Galpharm and, just 90 minutes into his tenure, you get the impression he isn't going to let the grass grow under his feet.

The new man firstly wants three points against Millwall at home on Saturday to prevent any late sweating over the relegation placings.

Then he will focus seriously on the potential signings who can turn Town into a Scunthorpe-style force next term, when the seven senior players out injured for his first match in charge will also be back to increase competition.

With a seriously depleted squad, it was always going to be tough on Saturday to prevent the League I leaders capping a fine season by sealing promotion in front of 7,518 delirious fans, most of whom invaded Glanford Park at the end.

And, thanks to Billy Sharp taking his campaign tally to 30 goals with a second-half double (both disputed by Town), Ritchie's 4-3-3 line-up weren't able to spoil the party as planned.

It was a shame, because in the first half on a bone hard, bobbly and tight pitch, Town gave as good as they got without really threatening to put Scunthorpe under the cosh.

Still, it was the home fans who were most frustrated by the break.

With Joe Skarz and skipper Jon Worthington catching the eye and Frank Sinclair solid at the back, Town needed to build on a neatly crafted half-chance for Mark Hudson which he could only fire over the bar, but Scunthorpe - playing towards their own bank of fans - seemed hungrier after the break.

Despite that, Town could easily have led after 55 minutes as Luke Beckett tucked away a low shot only to find the flag already up for offside, but after that the home side started to turn the screw with some pressure.

Jermaine Beckford should have scored with a close-range header from Kevan Hurst's cross on 55 minutes and then Matt Glennon was forced to beat away a cracking 20-yard drive by Neil MacKenzie.

It felt like a goal was coming and, when it did, there was a slice of suspicion about Sharp being offside as he fired in the rebound from Hurst's curler which Glennon parried into what he thought was safe territory (68 minutes).

If Scunthorpe got the benefit of the doubt on that decision, they certainly did with the 83rd-minute penalty award against Skarz for handball.

It was harsh, to say the least, as Matt Sparrow's cross rattled into the youngster from close quarters and, if it hit his hand, the incident certainly happened outside the box. It was a shocking decision by both the linesman who flagged and the referee, but Sharp made no mistake from the spot and the champagne (or lager as it turned out to be!) was removed from the ice.

Not a happy day for Town, but Ritchie undoubtedly learned a lot from the experience and at least he joined some good company.

Not since Ian Ross 15 years ago has a new Town manager (not a caretaker, Gerry) started his tenure with a win - and Ross is the only one since Mick Buxton 29 years ago.