Former County man Karl Hawley proved the villain for Scunthorpe after missing a host of guilt-edge chances for the Iron in the second half which ultimately cost his side dearly.
Defender Dean Leacock - back after a two-game ban - stroked in the winner in the 81st minute for County and kept them in touch with the race for the playoffs.
Kiwomya said his side responded well after their below-par performance in losing to Preston at home on Tuesday night.
He said: "I always thought that whoever got the first goal would win the game. It was a lot better than Tuesday. We were a lot more committed and knew what we wanted to do and created a lot more chances than against Preston.
"On Tuesday night we all got a lot of stick and rightly so. If you don't perform to the standards we have set ourselves we will come in for a bit of stick.
"We have to take that criticism and turn it into a positive and we did today. Playing 4-4-2 you will leave yourself a bit open and we did at times but at this stage of the season you need the wins."
