Bristol Rovers' long journey to Scunthorpe proved very worthwhile as they grabbed the three points with a late winner.
Rovers boss Ray Graydon described the win as "a feather in our cap. Scunthorpe are a very good side. We rode our luck, Adam Barrett and Christian Edwards were outstanding and Kevin Miller was very assured in making saves.
"It was very demanding out there and the hottest I can ever remember at the start of a season." Scunthorpe's Brian Laws while disappointed with the result said: "I was delighted with our performance. It was one-way traffic in the second half we had enough chances to win, but one error has cost us three points.
"I congratulated the players on their performance in fact the game was a credit to both teams." After Rovers had made an early incursion through Ijah Anderson with a free-kick which was swept away by Kevin Sharp.
Scunthorpe were quick to reply forcing two corners in succession but failed to take advantage and then Steve Torpey and Mark Jackson saw efforts go close.
Scunthorpe continued to enjoy most of the play and Matt Sparrow combined well with Paul Hayes, whose shot was just off the mark.
Scunthorpe found themselves in arrears after 13 minutes. Robert Quinn's free-kick was knocked into the middle by Kevin Street for Barrett to head home.
The Iron were not dismayed and both Sharp and Nathan Stanton were denied and before the interval Hayes had two further chances but was unable to turn them into anything positive.
After dictating much of the game, Scunthorpe were on level terms in the 63rd minute. Anderson tripped Sparrow in the box and Peter Beagrie smashed the ball home.
However the game took another twist in the closing stages when Lee Hodges was introduced and he scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 85th minute taking advantage of an error by Cliff Byrne.
Scunthorpe had two late chances to hit back when young Scottish striker Steven McLean was unlucky to see his efforts both strike the bar.